Heavy Rain in Washington

Events

239

Deaths

2

Injuries

26

Damage

$251 million

• Flash Flood and High Wind in Washington, December 14 to 15, 200615 deaths · 311 injured · $56 million · 78 kt wind · 17 eventsA strong Pacific Ocean rain and wind storm struck Washington on the night of Dec 14th through the morning of the 15th.
• Debris Flows and Flooding in Washington, December 2 to 5, 20073 deaths · $120 million · 11 eventsRecord flooding occurred on the Chehalis, Skokomish, and Elwha Rivers. In addition to the record flooding, major flooding occurred on the Bogachiel River.
• Flood and Heavy Rain in Washington, January 6 to 11, 20223 deaths · 1 injured · $4.9 million · 3 eventsA strong and persistent upper-level low-pressure system developed over the northern Rockies and southern Canada and then slowly migrated westward while continuously directing the jet stream and primary storm track at Washington State.
• Debris Flow and Flooding in Washington, November 4 to 9, 20062 deaths · $70 million · 12 eventsA strong, warm and very wet Pacific weather system brought copious amounts of rainfall to Washington from November 2 through 7, with subsequent major flooding that extended through November 11.
• Flooding and Heavy Rain in Washington, November 12 to 19, 20211 death · 1 injured · $55 million · 8 eventsAn upper level trough Gulf Low continued off the west coast that brought a series of atmospheric rivers resulting in flooding across parts of western Washington. This second atmospheric river episode of the month was a set of three atmospheric rivers back-to-back-to-back.
• Wildfire and Heavy Rain in Washington, August 2 to 30, 19981 injured · $92 million · 8 eventsLightning sparked a large fire at Twenty five mile creek on Lake Chelan. Over 6300 acres of forest land have burned. The fire was allowed to burn out and will not be officially out until mid October.
• Debris Flows and Flooding in Washington, January 7 to 10, 2009$72 million · 15 eventsRainfall of 8-20 inches in the mountains and 1 to 9 inches in the lowlands occurred from Jan 6th through 8th. Flooding was widespread over much of Western Washington. Record flooding occurred on the Snoqualmie, Tolt, and North Fork Stillaguamish Rivers.
• Heavy Rain in Washington, August 21 to 23, 20011 death · 14 eventsRecord rainfall amounts were set in several locations throughout western Washington on the 22nd. Nearly a months worth of rain (for aug ~ 1 inch) fell over most of the area with 2 to 5 inches common along the coast and in the mountains.
• Heavy Rain in Washington, February 9, 2017$33 million · 1 eventHeavy rainfall in the Puget Sound area lead to high storm runoff.
• Heavy Rain in Washington, December 29 to 31, 1996$32 million · 1 eventOverall, the total damage from the ice/snow/rain storm that lasted from December 26th to the 31st, caused about $315 million in both insured and uninsured damage (in all of WA).
• Heavy Rain in Washington, June 26 to 27, 2001$21 million · 4 eventsAn unusual dry-season wetting rainfall in this arid region caused extensive damage to the cherry crop and lesser damage to the apple and pear crops.
• Heavy Rain in Washington, March 1 to 15, 1999$16 million · 2 eventsThe heavy rain, which in turn caused flooding and mudslides, over the winter season has caused 18.5 million damage to Washington State roads. The two hardest hit counties were Mason with 10.2 and King with 5.5 million in damage.
• Flooding and Heavy Rain in Washington, December 1 to 4, 2007$10 million · 6 eventsTwo very powerful storms with origins in the Tropics brought hazardous weather to the Pacific Northwest. The entire forecast area experienced heavy rainfall for an extended period of time. This abnormally long period of consistently heavy rainfall led to widespread flooding.
• Heavy Rain in Washington, January 5 to 14, 2006$6.8 million · 10 eventsThe Governor declared a state of emergency after rain, at times heavy, over a period of about 10 days, caused over 7 million in damage, mainly to transportation infrastructure throughout western Washington.
• Tornadoes and Hail in Washington, May 31, 1997$701,000 · F1 · 27 events6 inches of water on streets of ephrata
• Heavy Rain in Washington, March 30, 1999$7.0 million · 1 eventFlooding and mudslides since November 1998 have damaged 75 residences. Some of the homes were not safe to reenter and the people had to relocate. Normal rainfall in the 4 month period from Nov to Feb is 29.7 inches at Olympia. From Nov 98 to Feb 99, they received 56.03 inches.
• Heavy Rain in Washington, March 25, 1999$5.0 million · 1 eventA mudslide 12 feet deep damaged a powerhouse switch yard at the Lake Cushman dam. The area received nearly 10 feet of rain since September 1998.
• Flooding and Heavy Rain in Washington, December 8 to 9, 2015$4.5 million · 3 eventsA moist pacific front produced heavy rainfall across Southwest Washington which resulted in river flooding, urban flooding, small stream flooding, and land slides.
• Heavy Rain in Washington, October 20, 2003$2.9 million · 9 eventsAn all time daily record rainfall total was set at Seatac Airport with 5.02 inches. Other daily records were set at Shelton with 7.20", Hoquaim with 5.39" and Olympia with 4.12".
• Debris Flow and Flooding in Washington, November 12 to 15, 2008$2.8 million · 5 eventsHeavy rain caused flooding on 15 western Washington rivers, with eight river forecast points reaching major flood stage.
• Heavy Rain in Washington, January 14, 200015 injured · 1 eventMore than two dozen vehicles collided on Interstate 5 during a brief, but heavy, rain shower. Traffic was backed up for about 7 miles.
• Heavy Rain in Washington, March 15 to 19, 19973 injured · $750,000 · 1 eventRainfall amounts, in inches, in the 24 hour period ending at 4 am on the 18th were, in the southern Olympics, Wynoochee Dam 6.77, at Wishkah Headworks 6.02.
• Flash Flooding and Debris Flows in Washington, July 16 to 20, 2012$1.3 million · 1.75 in hail · 12 eventsA nearly stationary upper level low pressure area parked near Brookings, Oregon brought abundant moisture across eastern Washington. This combined with daytime heating to produce a few severe thunderstorms and locally heavy rainfall.
• Heavy Rain in Washington, December 7, 2015$1.9 million · 2 eventsA moist pacific front produced heavy rainfall across Southwest Washington which resulted in urban flooding, small stream flooding, and land slides.
• Flooding and Heavy Rain in Washington, January 6 to 8, 2009$1.1 million · 3 eventsVery heavy rain and snow melt led to flooding over portions of Chelan County. The flooding prompted Chelan County commissioners to declare a State of Emergency. Part of highway 97 over Blewett Pass was washed away by the heavy rain.

Heavy Rain everywhereEvery kind of event in Washington

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.