While November has already started off wet and rainy, October’s precipitation amounts were higher than the monthly average.
This October, Bellingham received 4.38 inches of rain, according to the National Weather Service. On average, October rainfall sits around 3.85 inches.
Rainfall on Oct. 27 (when a landslide closed I-5 down for hours because of the rain and a clogged culvert) set a single-day record of 2.12 inches, according to NWS historical data.
The rainfall amount for October may be higher because of four days of missing data, between Oct. 18 and Oct. 21.
“There was a problem with the Bellingham rain sensor bucket,” said Kayla Mazurkiewicz, a meteorologist at NWS. “When that happened, we have to put the data as missing because we can’t make up the value there.”
As a weaker La Nina system is set to hit western Washington over the coming months, precipitation could be higher than average with possibly cooler than average temperatures.
“Going in to November, December — I mean, they are the rainiest months and we’re seeing a lot more stronger system,” Mazurkiewicz said. “We could look forward to that especially in the next couple of days or so. It’s been wet.”
Bellinghamsters won’t be able to escape the rain until mid-week next week.
Your Daylight Saving Time-ending forecast
Saturday: Rain after 4 p.m. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 53. Less than 1/10 of an inch of new precipitation possible.
Saturday night: Rain before 4 a.m. Low near 44. Less than 1/10 of an inch of new precipitation possible.
Sunday: 50% chance of rain throughout the day. Partly sunny with a high near 54.
Sunday night: Rain after 11 pm. Low near 45. Breezy with gusts up to 21 mph. Less than 1/10 of an inch of new precipitation possible. Daylight Saving Time ends.
Monday: Rain. High near 54. Winds between 14 to 21 mph with gusts up to 33 mph. Between 1/4 and 1/2 of an inch of new precipitation possible. With the time change, sunset will be at 4:42 p.m. Monday, but sunrise will be around 7 a.m.
Monday night: Rain before 11 p.m. Mostly cloudy with a low near 43. Between 1/10 and 1/4 of an inch of new precipitation possible.
Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, has a forecast of rain in the morning with a high of 52 degrees.
Annie Todd is CDN’s criminal justice/enterprise reporter; reach her at annietodd@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 130.
