October typically starts the rainy season in western Washington, but we will be hard-pressed to find any soaking rain soon.
While we are slightly ahead for the month when it comes to official rain totals, for the year, Seattle is more than 7 inches behind. That’s a lot of catching up to do.
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The lack of rain is definitely seen in the current NOAA drought map of our state.
Much of western Washington is in a severe drought, with the north Cascades experiencing extreme drought conditions.
The current fire danger map from the Washington State Department of Natural Resources shows most of the Cascades with high fire danger in yellow, and the north central Cascades with very high fire danger shown in orange.
But what’s next when it comes to rain for our area? According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Prediction Center, there is a 33 to 40 percent chance of above normal precipitation starting in the middle of the month.
In the same timeframe, government forecasters expect temperatures to be near normal for western Washington.
Wetter, seasonable weather would be just what we need to start making up for all the rain we didn’t get earlier in the year.