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If you like good old-fashioned Western Washington rainstorms, you’ll love the weather that kicks in this weekend.

“We’re looking at four significant weather systems in five days,” said Chris Burke of the Weather Service, saying the storms are expected to hit Saturday, Sunday night, Monday night and again on Wednesday.

In all, they could drop 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 inches of rain in the Puget Sound lowlands, and about twice that near the coast.

Heavier  precipitation is expected in the mountains, falling as snow in higher elevations. Snoqualmie Pass, at 3,022, is likely to see mostly rain, or a rain-snow mix. But Stevens Pass, 1,000 feet higher, could get 10 inches of snow or more over the weekend, according to the forecast.

It’s also expected to be breezy on the coast and in the mountains, less so in the Greater Seattle area.

Is there an explanation for the soggy weather pattern heading our way from the Pacific? “Yes,” said Burke. “It’s called November.”

November is typically the wettest month in the Seattle area, and the month’s last two weeks are the rainiest.

Through Wednesday, Seattle-Tacoma International Airport had recorded 1.96 inches of rain so far this month, compared to a normal 2.96 inches for November’s first two weeks.

“So we’re an inch down, but I have a suspicion we’ll make that up,” Burke said.
Normal Sea-Tac precipitation for all of November is 6.57 inches.

Because the coming precipitation will be spread out over five days, it’s not as likely to produce flooding as it would if it all fell in a day or two, Burke said.  But some rivers, such as Skokomish River in Mason County could reach flood level at some point, although no flood warnings are currently posted.