Seattle area sets record for wettest fall season with more rain on the way
Nov 30, 2021, 9:34 AM | Updated: 11:23 am
Fans watch a Seahawks game in ponchos as rain comes down in Seattle, Washington. (File photo by Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images)
(File photo by Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images)
As wet weather persists across the region, the Seattle area has officially set an all-time record for fall rain.
Puget Sound region’s year of record-breaking weather continues
According to the National Weather Service, Sea-Tac Airport — where the NWS measures rain for the Seattle area — has officially recorded more than 19 inches of rain between September and November, over half of which fell in the latter month.
Rainfall for meteorological fall in Seattle has surpassed 19" – a new record.
Contributions by month this year:
Sept. 15.9%
Oct. 30.3%
Nov. 53.8%Contributions by month in prev. record (18.61" in 2006):
Sept. 7.7%
Oct. 8.3%
Nov. 84%Novembers wet reputation lives on. #wawx
— NWS Seattle (@NWSSeattle) November 30, 2021
Meteorologist Dustin Guy says that while November won’t be Seattle’s wettest month on its own, if you add the rainfall totals to September and October’s amounts, the region is already in record territory for the three-month period known officially as “meteorological fall.” Previously, Seattle’s highest total for that period was 18.61 inches in 2006, when 84% of the season’s rain came in November.
As Guy points out, November continues to be Seattle’s rainiest month.
“November is really carrying the weight as far as giving us the wettest meteorologist fall on record in Seattle,” he told KIRO Radio.
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Oddly enough, the Seattle area has also experienced record high temperatures in recent days as well. On Nov. 28, it hit 59 degrees, tying the record high for that date set in 1999. The following day, a new record for the minimum temperature in Seattle on Nov. 29 was also set at 52 degrees, besting the previous 50-degree record for that date from 1995.
While all that is “impressive in its own right,” the NWS says, it “pales in comparison” to what Olympia, Forks, and parts of the Cascades have experienced over the last three months.
“In Forks, rain in the past 90 days exceeds what Vegas typically gets in 13 years,” the NWS said.
Bellingham has already set the record for its wettest November on record as well, having beat the previous mark by nearly two inches.
