How wet can we get?
For the umpteenth time this month, heavy rain is battering Seattle, with over half an inch falling since last night. The soggy weather will drag on for the rest of the day as March’s rainfall tally continues to climb—as of late Sunday morning, we’ve received a whopping 6.92 inches, nearly twice the norm for the entire month. Already, this March has established itself as Seattle’s fifth-wettest on record, with a good two weeks left to chase down the all-time mark of 8.40 inches, set in 1950.
Speaking of 1950, the daily rainfall record for today also occurred back then, when 0.98 inches fell. With an uptick in moisture likely later this afternoon into early evening, we could challenge that mark by nighttime—potentially bagging our third 1-inch rainfall of March along the way.
The rain finally dies down overnight as a cold front plows through, drying us out and dropping temperatures into the lower 40s. By tomorrow morning, we’ll just be dealing with a few stray showers—except up in the Convergence Zone around Everett, where heavier rains will hold on longer.
The second half of Monday features partly sunny skies region-wide, albeit with chillier-than-normal temperatures—highs will struggle to reach past 50 degrees. Then, a weak front brushes the state late tomorrow into early Tuesday, tossing up a few additional light showers.
We catch a breather during most of the daylight hours on Tuesday, alternating between clouds and sunshine as temperatures recover slightly into the lower 50s. Unfortunately, the threat of rain returns by nightfall with the approach of a cold front. Showers should begin by the late evening hours, with the heaviest stuff blasting through around sunrise on Wednesday. Rainfall totals will max out around a third of an inch.
Blustery conditions sweep in behind the storm, with gusts to 25 or 30 mph lingering into Wednesday afternoon. We then embark on a gradual drying trend, with more sun and fewer showers from Wednesday night all the way through Friday. Despite cool temperatures, precipitation chances look low during this entire time frame—welcome news for our waterlogged city.
Where this March is quickly becoming one for the record books.
