Record rain in the islands

It’s been a soggy few days in Western Washington. On Orcas, a total of 4.05 inches of rain was recorded from Feb. 10 to Feb. 18.

It’s been a soggy few days in Western Washington.

On Orcas, a total of 4.05 inches of rain was recorded from Feb. 10 to Feb. 18.

“That is an awful lot of rain for us over such a short period of time,” said long-time Olga weather recorder John Willis. “The average for February is probably about three inches but January was considerably lower than usual so it all evens out.”

Willis says one January in the early 1930s, it rained 13 inches on the island.

“And then the rest of the year, they only had a total of 15 inches,” Willis said. “That was the most unusual year I know of.”

On Lopez, rainfall over the past seven days is up to 3.63 inches. Rainfall for the month to date is just over four inches.

“The last time we had a February with over 4 inches of rainfall was in 1982,” said Lopez Islander Scott Rozenbaum.