Expect more rain as storm fronts move in

Published 10:01 pm Tuesday, June 3, 2008

EVERETT — The rain might go away today, but it will come again another day.

And another and another.

While a reprieve in the wet pattern is forecast for today, another front is expected to move through Western Washington on Thursday and Friday, said Jay Albrecht, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Seattle.

“And yet another one looks like it’s on its way for next week,” he said.

Everett’s rainfall total as of 5 p.m. Tuesday was creeping up on the record one-day total for June 3 for Seattle. Reliable historical records are not available for Everett, meteorologists said.

From midnight to 5 p.m., 0.9 inches of rain fell at Paine Field, according to Dennis D’Amico, another meteorologist for the weather service.

The one-day record for June 3 at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport is 1.08 inches, set in 1990.

Tuesday’s total for Sea-Tac was 0.59 inches. More rain fell in Everett than in Seattle because of the infamous “convergence zone,” in which winds from the south and west meet over Snohomish County to form rain clouds, the meteorologists said.

The one-day Sea-Tac record for this month was set June 1, 1968, at 1.75 inches. The record for the month — 3.82, set in 1964 — could be in jeopardy if the trend keeps up, D’Amico said.

“Maybe, it could be possible,” he said.

It’ll be off to a good start the first half of the month. After the next front moves out on Saturday, some clearing could happen on Sunday.

Then the wet pattern is likely to resume, Albrecht said. Upper-level low pressure in the Gulf of Alaska is expected to move to the southeast, bringing the rain with it.

For Snohomish County residents, it’s that convergence-zone time of year, Albrecht said. The phenomenon tends to occur most frequently in May, June, September and October, he said, making those months rainier in Everett than in Seattle.

Reporter Bill Sheets: 425-339-3439 or sheets@heraldnet.com.