A midday downpour pushed us into history.
Heavy showers in the noon hour lifted Seattle’s September rainfall total above 6 inches for the first time since weather observations began at Sea-Tac Airport, officially making this month the wettest September on record for Seattle. All told, we’ve received 6.17 inches this September, besting the previous high-water mark from September 1978 by nearly a quarter-inch—and quadrupling the monthly norm of 1.50 inches.
And to think, a mere 0.03 inches landed in the gauge last September.
It’s been nothing short of historic sogginess this time around, with another 0.73 inches falling today, fresh on the heels of a 0.66-inch soaking on Sunday and a mind-boggling 1.71-inch deluge on Saturday. Of course, things got wet in a hurry from the get-go this month, with strong thunderstorms unloading nearly 2 inches of rain on Seattle from Sept. 5-6. Fortunately, we then embarked on an eight-day run of dry, warm weather that made it seem as if summer had never left.
There’s no question that summer is long gone now, with the recent record-setting rains making it feel more like the dead of November than the beginning of fall. Thankfully, the soakings of the past several days are all but done, as much calmer, quieter weather looks to settle in for the beginning of October. In fact, after another round of showers tomorrow and early Wednesday, Seattle is likely to stay dry for the remainder of the workweek, with the next shot of rain not arriving until later Saturday—a solid 72-hour break.
Not that anyone’s counting or anything…
