2012 one of wettest on record in Western Washington
Dec 28, 2012, 1:48 PM | Updated: 1:56 pm
2012 will go down as one of the wettest on record in Western Washington (AP image)
(AP image)
Remember that long stretch of dry weather that nearly broke a record this summer? It would be easy to forget as meteorologists tally the totals on what’s turned out to be a wetter than normal year.
“We’ll end up with about 48 and a half inches, which is quite a lot. Normally we only get about 38 inches,” says University of Washington meteorologist Cliff Mass.
Despite the nearly 50 inches of rain that fell this year at SeaTac Airport, Mass says the record of 55 inches should stand. But 2012 will go down among the top five.
“So that’s something to be proud of, I guess,” he laughs.
Looking ahead, Mass says this is the first winter in a number of years that’s considered “neutral”, without the effects of either the La Nina or El Nino patterns. That means it’s pretty tough to predict what comes next. But in the past, neutral years have brought the most intense storms with the biggest floods and snowfall.
“Anything goes. So this should be a normal year, as normal as we get around here.”
