A wet and windy storm could bring record-breaking rainfall this weekend, according to a special advisory issued by the National Weather Service.
The agency calls the storm “highly unusual” for September, with heavy rains shifting south over the next two days.
Southwest Washington could record between 5 and 6 inches of rain by Monday, the weather service reports, which has the potential to cause localized flooding.
National Weather Service Meteorologist Jeremiah Pyle said the storm has the potential to break four records over the weekend – each day’s record and the record rainfall for September.
For both Saturday and Sunday, the record rainfall is 1 inch, and 0.98 inch rain for Monday. Pyle said that the record for Sunday will most likely be broken because it is predicted to be the wettest day, though there is record-breaking potential for all three days. The record rainfall for September is 4.88 inches, set in 1911. As of Friday morning, September has recorded 2.19 inches of rain.
Along with the soggy conditions, heavy winds are expected to sweep the region.
The National Weather Service predicts 60 mph gusts on the coast Saturday and gusts with wind speeds as fast as 35 mph is predicted for the valley.
Pyle said that people in the area should watch out for downed tree limbs and some scattered power outages.
The advisory cautions people to avoid beach areas where high waves have the potential to sweep people away and bring debris onshore which could result in injuries.
Pyle said that the wet and windy storm is not typical for early fall.
“It’s highly unusual to see this strong and this wet of a system this early,” Pyle said. “Typically we don’t see this atmospheric river-type event, as we call it, until November, December, January.”
Temperatures over the weekend are predicted to remain between mid-60s to mid-50s.
