Seattle’s Chance to Break 73-Year-Old Weather Record Ends Today?

This crazy weather event has not happened in the Seattle area since 1945 and until today it looked like it might happen again.

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This Weather Event hasn't Happened Since 1945 in Seattle

If you have heard of Seattle, Washington, the first thing that probably comes to your mind is rain. The area has a reputation for being dreary, rainy, and hardly ever seeing the sun. That long-held stigma about the most populated west coast of Washington is, I think, actually greatly deserved, even though Olympia, which is south of Seattle, actually gets much more rain. Seattle averages around 37 inches of rain over a 165-day period, with Olympia getting an average of 50 over the same calendar days according to Visit Seattle. One record in particular hits that home and illustrates just how reliable large amounts of rain can be on the western coasts of Washington State.

At Least One Day Per Year with an Inch of Rain Since 1945

The rain has always been so consistent in Seattle that there has not been a single year since 1945 when at least one inch of rain fell in a single day. Usually the most extreme weather precipitation per day each year is closer to 3 inches of rain according to Current Results.com, but so far in 2023, there have been exactly ZERO days with over 1 inch of precipitation. It looked like this year might break the 73-year-old record until the current rainstorm hit the Seattle coastline today. The totals are not final or official yet, but NOAA is already reporting that 1.07 inches of rain has fallen today at the Seattle International Airport. That would crush the chances of breaking the long-standing record but also bring much-needed rain and moisture to the entire region.