1 heavy rain, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Seattle, WA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 24, 2:30 AM PST, 3 hours 30 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA 330 AM PDT TUE AUG 24 2004 .SYNOPSIS...A FAST-MOVING UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE WILL BRING OCCASIONAL RAIN TO THE AREA TODAY. A STRONGER AND WETTER COLD FRONT WILL MOVE THROUGH THE AREA TONIGHT AND EARLY WEDNESDAY. AN UPPER LEVEL TROUGH AND LOW LEVEL ONSHORE FLOW WILL BRING SHOWERS AND A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS TO THE AREA WEDNESDAY. SLOW WARMING AND DRYING IS EXPECTED FRIDAY AND INTO THE WEEKEND AS AN UPPER LEVEL RIDGE BUILDS TOWARD THE AREA. && .DISCUSSION...AREAS OF RAIN NOW ACROSS WESTERN WASHINGTON THIS MORNING AND THAT SHOULD BE THE WAY THE REMAINDER OF THE DAY WILL PLAY OUT. THIS IS THE RESULT OUT SEVERAL WEAK UPPER WAVES MOVING ACROSS THE AREA WITHIN AN AIR MASS THAT IS PLENTY MOIST AND SLIGHTLY UNSTABLE. THIS ALLOWS FOR PRECIP GENERATION WITH JUST A BIT OF FORCING. TONIGHT THE MAIN EVENT WILL TAKE PLACE AS A COLD FRONT MOVES ONSHORE DURING THE EARLY MORNING HOURS. WITH PASSAGE OF THE FRONT...COLD AND UNSTABLE AIR MOVES OVER THE REGION FOR WEDNESDAY. UNSTABLE ENOUGH TO KICK OFF PLENTY OF SHOWERS AND SOME THUNDERSTORMS. OUTSIDE CHANCE THERE MAY BE A FEW THUNDERSTORMS WITH OR NEAR THE FRONTAL PASSAGE DURING THE EARLY MORNING HOURS. FOR NOW WILL LET THE DAY CREW ASSESS THIS AND WILL LEAVE OUT FOR NOW. THIS SYSTEM LOOKS LIKE A DECENT RAIN PRODUCER...POSSIBLY HEAVIER THAN THE WEEKEND SYSTEM. LOWLANDS COULD GET 0.50-1.25 INCHES WITH THE MOUNTAINS BETWEEN 1 AND 3 INCHES FROM THIS AM THROUGH WED EVENING. WITH THE THREAT OF CONVECTION AMOUNTS COULD BE LOCALLY HIGHER. WILL NEED TO KEEP AN EYE ON SOME OF THE SUSCEPTIBLE RIVERS THAT WERE ALREADY PRIMED THIS WEEKEND. WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY NIGHT...WE WILL BE UNDER THE WEAKENING INFLUENCE OF UPPER TROF AND UNSTABLE AIR MASS FOR SHOWERS THAT WILL SLOWLY DIMINISH THROUGH TIME AND MAINLY AFFECT THE MOUNTAINS AND AREA IMPACTED BUT THE CONVERGENCE ZONE. BEYOND THAT...INTO THE AREA OF LOW CONFIDENCE...MODELS CONTINUE THE SLOW TREND TOWARD HIGHER HEIGHTS SO HANGING ON TO DRYING TREND INTO THE WEEKEND IS LOOKING GOOD AND WILL NOT ALTER AT THIS POINT. CERNIGLIA && .SEW...NONE. .KATX..VCP21/CSR21 OPERATIONAL. &&
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 heavy rain. Local standard time, as filed.
Over 2.5 inches of rain fell during the day, causing overloads on Mount Vernon's storm and sewage drains. Basements flooded, toilets backed up, and some farmers halted their harvest activities.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Washington in 2004Every state in 2004This day in weather historyWarnings in Washington, August 2004
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5419750.