May Inundation

(see update at bottom)

It is POURING outside right now.  Streets are starting to flood. This weekend is going to be an unusually wet one for May.

First, here is the 12-h precipitation ending about 9:45 PM Saturday from Seattle RainWatch.  Some parts of southern Seattle have already gotten 1 to 1.5 inches. Even heavier amounts on the Kitsap.

The wide view shows the large difference between heavy rain in the south and central Sound and the light precipitation in the rain shadow NE of the Olympics. (this figure is based on the Camano Island radar so you can't just the precipitation over the Olympics or over the coast).  This pattern is consistent with southwesterly flow aloft.

Seattle RainWatch not only provides real-time information on rainfall amounts, but it sends out warnings to Seattle personnel and its developers (like Jeff Baars and myself).  Here is what my email looks like tonight:

Take a look at the high-resolution WRF weekend total precipitation forecast (5 AM Saturday through 5 AM Tuesday).  2-5 inches over the mountains and 1-2 inches over the lowlands.  Even eastern Washington gets some real rain.

Guess I won't have to water my vegetable garden tomorrow.

Update: here is the 24h precip total from RainWatch ending 7:30 AM Sunday.  3-4 inches near the Hood Canal  and over 2 inches in parts of SW Seattle.  But only light rain over the NE Olympic Peninsula.

The 24 h precip map from observation sites (available on the Seattle NWS website) shows the serious precipitation SW of the Olympics, with a profound rain shadow over the Strait and San Juan Islands.  .04 inches at Port Angeles and .02 inches on San Juan Island, while Hood Canal had 3.65 inches.  It is nice to live in a place where you can pick your weather.