Seattle area hits record rainfall ahead of ‘widespread thunderstorms’ this week
Jun 10, 2021, 4:58 PM | Updated: Oct 13, 2021, 7:07 am
Rain in the Seattle area. (MyNorthwest photo)
(MyNorthwest photo)
The latter half of the weekend brought record rainfall and muggy weather, which could soon transition to thunderstorms by Tuesday in the Seattle area.
After a beautiful break in the rain on Saturday, clouds rolled in Saturday evening and rain began falling across the region around 9 p.m., bringing what the National Weather Service labeled the “great wet.”
Rain continued as the weekend came to a close — as of Sunday evening, 0.68 inches had fallen at Sea-Tac (where the NWS measures rainfall in the Seattle area), topping the old June 13 mark of 0.5 inches set in 1946. Olympia also set a June 13 record, recording nearly a full inch of rain, and besting the old record — also from 1946 — of 0.79 inches.
As of 5 PM, 2 climate sites have already set records for the most rainfall on this date.
0.93" at Olympia today beats the old June 13 record of 0.79" from 1946.
0.68" of rain at Sea-Tac so far today tops the old mark of 0.50", also from 1946.#WAwx
— NWS Seattle (@NWSSeattle) June 14, 2021
June rainfall in Seattle now sits at 1.87″. A typical June is 1.45,” according to the National Weather Service. This June now ranks as the 20th wettest June in 77 years of records at Sea-Tac airport. The total rainfall since Jan. 1 is now at 20.06″, which is 0.58″ above normal.
Wet weather is expected to fade between Sunday night and Monday morning, followed by its return in force the following day. That will likely see “widespread thunderstorms” across the region on Tuesday.
“This will certainly be the day to watch here in the PNW,” the NWS noted.
Even as the rain is falling, temperatures have hovered between highs in the 70s and lows in the mid-50s to 60s. Tuesday’s thunderstorms will bring cooler weather in the mid to upper 50s.
