April Becomes Seattle’s 2nd-Wettest; Much Nicer Weather on the Way

Up the charts we go.

It’s now the second-wettest April on record in Seattle, thanks to a stubborn storm system that has dropped nearly an inch of rain on the city since yesterday afternoon. As of 2 p.m. today, the official weather-reporting site at Sea-Tac Airport had received 5.45 inches for the month—edging this April past 1996 for the number two spot on the list of Seattle’s soggiest Aprils. Since weather records began at the airport in 1945, only 1991 has witnessed a wetter April, with 6.53 inches falling that month.

Fortunately, the worst of today’s rain is on its way out, with lighter showers expected across most of the Sound later this afternoon and evening. Areas north of Everett will dry out the quickest, while the Seattle-Tacoma area will remain stuck in the gunk until later on, thanks to a Puget Sound Convergence Zone that’s expected to develop. The Zone should push past the I-5 corridor around 8 p.m. tonight, ending the rain for most spots, save the outlying suburbs and towns near the foothills.

Tomorrow dawns on a much drier note, with partly sunny skies and temperatures in the mid 40s. Unfortunately, the Convergence Zone is likely to sprout up again, bringing a renewed threat of rain from North Seattle to Everett. South of there, just a few on-and-off showers are expected during the day, with highs creeping into the mid 50s.

By Sunday, all of Western Washington should be dry, allowing the mercury to make a run at 60 degrees for the first time in nearly three weeks. A building ridge of high pressure in the eastern Pacific will also boost sunshine chances across the region, with morning clouds yielding to clear skies by lunchtime.

As we head into next week, the ridge of high pressure scoots closer to us, nudging temperatures from the mid 60s on Monday to near the 70-degree mark by Tuesday. (Seattle has yet to reach 70 so far this year, coming up just a hair short on Easter.) By Wednesday, warmer air spilling over the Cascades from Eastern Washington could vault high temperatures all the way into the mid 70s—a 180-degree flip from the record rains of the past three weeks.

Near-record rains, that is. After all, the crown for Seattle’s wettest April still belongs to 1991—and with a prolonged stretch of pleasant weather on the horizon, we won’t be laying claim to it anytime soon.

(Insert collective sigh of relief here.)