Record rainfall dumped on Olympia. Is more nasty weather on the way?
The Olympia area received 1.08 inches of rain in a 24-hour period ending early Monday morning, which nearly doubled the region’s previous daily rainfall record of 0.68 inches set in 2010, according to the National Weather Service.
The storm that brought all that rain also caused scattered power outages throughout Thurston County on Monday, the largest affecting nearly 50 people on Cooper Point and cluster affecting dozens on Johnson Point.
Wind gusts reached 35 mph in Olympia overnight, and some areas saw gusts over 40 mph. Thousands were without power in neighboring counties, including more than 20,000 in southern Pierce County..
NWS meteorologist Harrison Rademacher said even more intense wind gusts are expected through late Tuesday morning as a second atmospheric river moves across the state. People should expect the wind to be even stronger.
Rademacher said a wind advisory has been issued for lowland areas in Western Washington, including Olympia, for Monday night and into Tuesday. Wind gusts exceeding 40 mph are expected, and he said people should be prepared for power outages.
Olympia could also see an additional half-inch of rain between Monday and Tuesday.
The good news? Rademacher said the atmospheric river will be followed by a high pressure system that could bring temperatures near 80 on Friday.
“‘June-uary’ will hopefully be pretty short for those who don’t like seeing a lot of rain,” he said.
Rademacher said the weather later in the week will be warmer than normal for this time of year, but it should pose only a minor heat risk.
Olympia wasn’t the only city to break a daily rainfall record from Sunday to Monday. Seattle received 0.65 inches of rain, which broke a 2001 daily record of 0.48 inches. Hoquiam received 1.87 inches, which beat the previous record of 1.35 inches set in 1962.
This story was originally published June 3, 2024 at 11:02 AM.
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