Monthly Precipitation Records Have Fallen

Yesterday, Seattle-Tacoma Airport's October rainfall finally exceeded the October monthly record of 8.96 inches, and it is well over 9 inches at this point.  A number of other western Washington locations (such as Olympia and Hoquiam) have exceeded their October records, as well as many locations in eastern Washington (see below)

Really, the eastern Washington wetness is quite exceptional.   The US Drought Monitor no longer has any part of Washington in drought.

To get an idea of the amazing amount of water we have received, here is a plot of the percentage of normal precipitation observed during the past month. Most of Washington has had above 200% of normal with much of eastern WA with more than 400% of normal.   Same thing is true of northern CA and SW Oregon.

With all this precipitation, local rivers are running high, and many very high (>90 percentile of flows).

And folks, the rain is not over.  Here is the prediction 72 hr cumulative precipitation ending 5 PM Wednesday.  Vancouver Island is going to get hammered with over 10 inches along its SW slopes, while the Cascades will be moistened by 1-5 inches (which almost seems like a sprinkle compared to what they have gotten).

What is really exceptional is the amount of precipitation that has hit and will hit northern California.  Fire risk is way down and the reservoirs have started to refill early.   I suspect this winter will be a "drought breaker" for the Golden State.  

So why has it been so wet?  Well, the proximate cause is a persistent area of low pressure over the northeast Pacific, as shown by the the following  upper level (500 hPa) anomaly (difference from normal) map for the past month.  The purple/dark blue shows a strong negative anomaly (low pressure) just off the NW coast.  This feature has brought clouds and precipitation.  Why is it there?  I can't provide an explanation.

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Join the "climate heroes" protest at Puget Sound Energy (PSE) at 11:30 AM Monday in Bellevue (information here)

Puget Sound Energy has joined with other major carbon polluters (like the petroleum industry) to contribute massive amounts of funding to stop I-732, the carbon tax swap initiative (which I support).   We suspected this would happen, once it became clear that I-732 might pass.   The funds are being used for a massive misinformation campaign (No on 732).  So join those who want to see real progress made in fighting against global warming produced by increasing levels of CO2 and other greenhouse gases.  Tell PSE either in person or via email/telephone that their working against effective measures to deal with climate change is not in society's or their long-term best interest.