Our relatively dry grace period appears to be over, with forecasted rain materializing this morning and the National Weather Service forecasting rain through the weekend, with heavy rain falling by Saturday and through the weekend.
According the National Weather Service's special weather statement, "a front bringing heavier rain will arrive late Saturday... With significant precipitation continuing Sunday and Monday."
Rainfall could be up to one to two inches over the interior lowlands, and two to four inches along the coast, according to the National Weather Service.
The weather service adds that rivers will rise sharply but river flooding is not expected during this period, because of the recent long dry spell.
Are you ready for rain? Tell us in the comments.
The Washington State Department of Transportation said that drivers should expect wet, fall-weather roads and drive safely.
“We know the first big rain can bring slick driving conditions,” said Dave McCormick, Washington State Department of Transportation maintenance and operations manager. “This year may be more challenging because it has been so long since we’ve had any measurable rain.”
The WSDOT offers the following tips on driving in wet weather:
- Leave plenty of following distance between vehicles;
- focus on driving and not on the cell phone;
- And check conditions and traffic before leaving;
- Drivers may also want to add 15 minutes or more to their commute.
(Not bad advice for any weather, actually.)
The WSDOT adds the following for drivers who get into a collision:
- Move to the right to get out of traffic;
- Stay in the vehicle until help arrives;
- And never stand or walk into traffic for any reason
According to WSDOT, incident responders will be available to clear roads and help drivers along the key commute corridors, including Interstate 5, Interstate 405, State Route 520, Interstate 90, State Route 99 and State Route 16 throughout Seattle, Bellevue, Everett and Tacoma.
The WSDOT has two Twitter feeds to help drivers stay on top of changing traffic conditions, the Seattle/Bellevue/Everett traffic and Tacoma traffic.
