Rain Streak Ends, But New Streak Begins Monday

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By By Scott Sistek

Summary

While Seattle finally had a dry day Sunday after 27 straight wet ones, another very wet storm was making its way here today, prompting more flood concerns; Olympia's streak still going at 30.

Story Published: Jan 15, 2006 at 3:27 PM PDT

Story Updated: Aug 31, 2006 at 2:11 AM PDT

Rain Streak Ends, But New Streak Begins Monday
SEATTLE - The Seattle rainy streak is over.

It sure won't look like it when you awake Monday morning.

Seattle did not receive any measurable rain Sunday, ending its 27-day rainy streak. (And how strange is it that the dry day would come on the weekend?)

But don't let our potentially first dry day in nearly a month fool you into thinking the rainy pattern is slowing down. In fact, we're looking at another bout with heavy rain very soon.

A strong and moist system in the Pacific was due to bring in another wave of steady, moderate-to-heavy rain Monday. The rain will stick around all day, and is expected to last through Monday night and most of the day Tuesday as well.

Rain totals are forecast to be around 1-3" for the western Washington lowlands, with even amounts approaching 3-5" in the Olympic Mountains. That's going to put a lot more pressure on our already-high rivers and soggy soil, so flood and landslide concerns are high once again.

A FLOOD WARNING is in effect for the Skokomish and Chehalis Rivers already. A FLOOD WATCH is in effect for all other rivers in Western Washington. You should also be on the lookout for urban and small stream flooding -- so make sure to keep those storm drains clear if you can.

Mountain Snow A Concern Too

This system is also going to bring a lot more snow to the mountains, but the snow level forecasts with this storm are quite tricky, so how much snow we get up there could vary.

Right now, A WINTER STORM WATCH is in effect for the Cascades from late Sunday night through Tuesday afternoon. Snow levels are forecast to begin around 2,000 feet Sunday night, but will rise to 3,500 feet over the North Cascades and 4,500 feet over the Central Cascades by Monday evening as we get warmer air here.

But then snow levels will drop again toward Tuesday. In the interim, snow totals could be as high as 2 feet by then, but it'll depend on how long the snow level stays low. If it stays higher longer, that means less snow totals, but more flooding concerns.

Seattle Streak Gone, But Others Keep Going

Just to finish up on the streak talk, even though Seattle's streak ended Sunday, other cities' are still going. It did rain Sunday (and Monday) in both Olympia and Forks, making their streaks 30 and 29, respectively (Olympia's streak began a day earlier than Seattle's.)

Apparently, Olympia's record is identical to Seattle's 33-day consecutive day record set in 1953, so they have a chance to break it. No word yet on if anyone's kept the records for Shelton or Forks.

Also, another final tidbit -- Seattle's streak began Dec. 19 with snow. It also snowed Saturday night in East King County. I guess the snow book-ended the streaks?

In the meantime, the long range forecast is continued soggy, so perhaps we'll be just starting another streak?