1 lightning, 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 May 27, 7:50 AM PST, 6 hours 5 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA 850 AM PDT THU MAY 27 2004 .SYNOPSIS...ANOTHER WEAK PACIFIC FRONTAL SYSTEM WILL SPREAD RAIN ACROSS WESTERN WASHINGTON TODAY. AN UPPER LOW...CURRENTLY NEAR THE NORTHERN BRITISH COLUMBIA COAST...WILL MOVE ACROSS THE AREA FRIDAY TO KEEP THE WEATHER COOL AND SHOWERY. STRONG WEST FLOW ALOFT WILL SEND A COUPLE MORE WEAK DISTURBANCES ACROSS THE AREA THIS WEEKEND. WESTERLY FLOW WILL CONTINUE EARLY NEXT WEEK...WITH A CHANCE OF RAIN CONTINUING. && .DISCUSSION...A RATHER DISORGANIZED LOOKING BUT STILL VERY WET WAVE IS MOVING OVER WASHINGTON TODAY...WITH RADAR AND OBS INDICATING RAIN JUST ABOUT EVERYWHERE. THE APPROACHING UPPER LOW OVER THE QUEEN CHARLOTTES IS PROBABLY AIDING IN AMPLIFICATION OF THE WAVE OVER THE AREA. MODELS HAVE BEEN CONSISTENT IN HANDLING THE APPROACHING UPPER LOW...BRINGING IT DOWN OVER VANCOUVER ISLAND TONIGHT AND ACROSS NW WA FRIDAY. HIGH POPS LOOK GOOD FOR TODAY THROUGH FRIDAY. MESOETA FORECAST SOUNDINGS FOR SEATTLE ARE ACTUALLY QUITE UNSTABLE THROUGH THE LOW LEVELS THIS AFTERNOON...JUST NOT ACROSS A DEEP ENOUGH LAYER INCLUDING THE -20C ISOTHERM TO PUT THUNDERSTORMS IN THE FORECAST. THE AIR MASS BECOMES MORE UNSTABLE FRIDAY WITH THE UPPER LOW CROSSING THE AREA. SELS STORM CENTER INDICATES GENERAL THUNDERSTORMS FROM PUGET SOUND EASTWARD. CURRENT GRIDS SHOW THUNDER OVER THE SW INTERIOR AND THE S CENTRAL CASCADES. HOWEVER...12Z MESOETA SOUNDINGS ACTUALLY SHOW LESS CAPE FOR FRIDAY THAN TODAY...THOUGH THIS TIME THE LIFTED PARCELS GET A LITTLE ABOVE THE -20C LEVEL. BASED ON THE SOUNDINGS THIS DOESNT LOOK LIKE A RESOUNDING CASE FOR THUNDER. HOWEVER CHANCES IMPROVE BY FACTORING IN THE FORECAST MAX TEMPERATURES EXPECTED FRIDAY. ANOTHER WRINKLE TO CONSIDER IS THE PUGET SOUND CONVERGENCE ZONE. SW ONSHORE FLOW SUPPORTS SOME FORM OF CONVERGENCE ZONE ALL THE WAY THROUGH SUNDAY. IF THE PSCZ IS GOING...THAT COULD HELP TRIGGER A THUNDERSTORM FRIDAY. ZONAL FLOW DEVELOPS ACROSS THE AREA THIS WEEKEND AFTER THE UPPER LOW EXITS EASTWARD FRIDAY NIGHT. GFS SHOWS WEAK DISTURBANCES CROSSING THE AREA BOTH SATURDAY AND SUNDAY. THOUGH THE SYSTEMS LOOK WEAKER THE PRESENCE OF THE JETSTREAM OVER THE AREA WILL PROVIDE EXTRA FORCING. THE SATURDAY SYSTEM LOOKS LIKE IT ORIGINATES OUT OF THE WAVE THAT IS CURRENTLY NEAR THE DATELINE. THE SUNDAY SYSTEM IS JUST A SMALL VORT MAX EMBEDDED IN THE WESTERLY FLOW. GFS AND ECMWF ARE IN FAIR AGREEMENT WITH THE OVERALL PATTERN EARLY NEXT WEEK. BOTH HAVE A LARGE UPPER TROUGH OVER THE NE PACIFIC JUST S OF THE GULF OF AK...WITH WESTERLY FLOW ACROSS THE PACIFIC NW. GFS SHOWS MORE OF A WEAK DIRTY RIDGE OVER THE AREA WHILE THE ECMWF HAS MORE CYCLONIC CURVATURE. WITH ZONAL FLOW PERSISTING...CANT TAKE THE CHANCE OF RAIN OUT FOR ANY PART OF THE EXTENDED. KAM && .SEW...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY CENTRAL STRAIT AND EAST ENTRANCE. .KATX...VCP21/CSR21. &&
The Portland,OR radar (KRTX), 106 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:56 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
A man was seriously injured after being struck by lightning while working on a roof. His co-workers said there was just one lightning bolt, none before or after the one that struck the man.
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, May 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: 5394288.