And of course, the most popular question we're still getting:

"Isn't the record 90 days set in 1998-9?"

The Record Is 33 Days For Seattle -- Really!

We're still getting a lot of curious or skeptical e-mail from people who remember the rainy winter of 1998-1999 and swear we had 90 straight days of rain then.

But that record that gained so much fame then was that we had 90 days of rain in the 120-day period from Nov. 1, 1998-Feb. 28, 1999. But the 90 days were not consecutive. There were full on sunny days in mid November, early January and in early March. The longest stretch of consecutive days of rain in that period was a paltry 18 days.

The official record is still 33 days, set in early 1953. So we need to get rain every day through next Friday to tie it (which will be close. More on that in a moment.)

But aside from the phantom 90-day Seattle streak, there's been a lot of other questions about this streak and streaks in general. We're here to help!

"What's The Longest Streak Ever?"

Man, they make this stuff hard to research. Even with the power of Google, finding past climate data and records is about as easy as finding Atlantis, but here's what I've come up with so far:

In the state of Washington, the record is 55 days set in Centralia in the winter of 1996-97.

In the Lower 48, Oregon holds the record for most consecutive wet days. From Dec. 7, 1997, through Feb. 23, 1998, Otis, Ore., on the central Pacific coast, recorded 79 straight days of rain.

I also found a recent article in the USA Today that says Ketchikan, Alaska had a streak of 101 days set in 1953 -- the same year Seattle's 33-day streak was set. Just for grins, I checked Ketchikan's current weather, and sure enough, they too are on a rainy streak. But theirs is only at 19 days, so we're a week ahead of them.

Then, an article in the Associated Press out Friday quoting the National Weather Service says there was a streak of 247 straight rainy days at Kaneohe Ranch on the island of Oahu from Aug. 27, 1993 through April 30, 1994. But I'm not sure that should really count -- that's technically in the city of Kailua, I'm told, but it's near a rain forest. For that matter, I'll bet our own Olympic Rain Forest probably has some impressive streaks of its own, I just don't know what they are.

"OK, We've All Heard: 26 In Seattle. What About My City?"

Again, aside from Seattle, finding past recent weather data for other cities is a challenge. But I found some unofficial sources for past data, ranging from private weather stations to WeatherUnderground.com's past data site, to compile the list of how other cities are doing and how much rain they've received since Seattle's streak began on Dec. 19.

This shows a couple of great examples of how variable weather is around the Puget Sound area. For one, note now difficult it is to maintain a rainy streak -- just Olympia (who actually got snow on the night of Dec. 18 that measured 0.01" liquid water equivalent, so their streak is a day longer than Seattle), Shelton (also snow on Dec. 18), Tacoma and Forks have matched Seattle.

(FYI, The Bellingham Herald reported that their streak is at 26 too, breaking their record of 22 straight set in 1953, but after conducting further research with the National Weather Service, we both concluded that Bellingham did not get measurable rain on Jan. 4 -- it was only a trace.

Also, my original version had an error for Tacoma. The source I used said McChord AFB was dry on Dec. 31, but further research shows it did rain, so Tacoma is still on the current 26-day streak too. )

Others have snuck in a dry day or two amidst the streak. Heck, of the cities I checked, Everett's streak is at just two days -- it did not rain a measurable amount on Jan. 11.

The chart also greatly illustrates the Olympic Rain Shadow -- look how little rain Sequim has received in all of this! Meanwhile, just "down the road" in Forks (OK, so it's 90 miles down the road), they've had over 20" of rain.

Again, aside from Seattle and Olympia, this is all unofficial data (although I did confirm Everett got no rain on the 11th.) So it's possible there are errors in this -- maybe it rained in another city where their amount didn't get reported. I've had a few people from the Sequim area swear they've had more than four straight days of rain, and we are using an unofficial source for them since they don't have an official station, so it's possible. But nonetheless, this is fun to look at!

Incidentally, Seattle's streak was almost a day longer. That Olympia snow did make it to Sea-Tac at 11:47 p.m. on the 18th, but it didn't snow enough to measure before midnight.

Also, I checked Boeing Field, which is actually in Seattle as opposed to Sea-Tac Airport, and they too are on the current 26-day streak.

How Much Rain Fell During The Record 1953 Streak?

It was 13.92" of rain. (Editor's Note: this was a change from the original article, where we estimated 13.6". Also, Seattle eventually got to 13.22" before the streak ended on Sunday, Jan. 15.)

Pining Hopes On Seattle: Will We Make It To 33?

The odds are decent, but not overwhelming that Seattle will make it all the way to next Friday with rain every day to tie the streak of 33. Sunday and Wednesday are still looking at scattered showers that could conceivably miss the airport, just as they did in Everett on Wednesday.

Thursday is also looking dry for the most part, but now it seems the next wave of rain may make it in here before midnight Friday morning.

So streak fans, keep your fingers crossed. And for those of who tired of streaks and want to be reminded of what it's like to have a totally dry day, maybe pay a visit to Sequim for a few days :)