Has it been that long since Puget Sound drivers dealt with rain?
Jul 27, 2017, 9:15 AM | Updated: 12:11 pm
(WSDOT)
Looking at a traffic map Thursday morning and you’d think drivers in the Greater Seattle area braved a deluge of rain.
Drivers heading from Renton to Bellevue faced an approximate 20-minute delay, according to KIRO Radio traffic reporter Chris Sullivan.
The drive from Everett to Bellevue was delayed between 15 to 20 minutes.
Everett to Seattle was just under an hour and 20 minutes.
Of course, the rain we saw during the morning commute wasn’t much more than a summer drizzle.
“Is this what happens by a few rain droplets?” Sullivan asked.
Apparently, it is.
I think we found the issue this morning. pic.twitter.com/9EeHJ9pO6T
— KIRO Radio Traffic (@KIROTraffic) July 27, 2017
Seattle entered its 40th day without measurable rain on Thursday, according to the National Weather Service. That’s only occurred five times in the past 45 years. Though some cities’ dry streaks were broken last week, it wasn’t by much — it only takes 1/100th of an inch to rain to count as “measurable.”
So it’s either been long enough since it last rained for drivers to forget how to handle a little water on the road, or they were just caught off guard. What happens when it really starts to rain again in October?