An unusually powerful and wet storm has drenched Western Washington this weekend, leading to record rainfall amounts throughout the state, including Seattle.

According to the National Weather Service’s (NWS) measurements on Saturday, Sept. 28, the region saw the wettest day recorded since 1948, with 1.71 inches of rain. The previous record of 1.65 inches in a day had occurred twice, in 1978 and 1953.

Locally, Federal Way experienced the torrential downpour with impressive figures itself, with NSW spotters recording rainfall levels of 2.48 for that same day. According to one published report at Komo News, a “spotter near Potlatch in Mason County reported an estimated 7 inches of rain — an estimate because that’s all the gauge could hold and it overflowed.”

Monday saw perhaps the most bizarre manifestation of the inclement weather, when it was reported and confirmed that a tornado touched down near Frederickson in Pierce County. The tornado had a small impact, although various reports indicated that it damaged nearby buildings, tipped over rail cars, and caused debris-blown damage to nearby cars.

It was also reported that the Cascade Mountains could expect up to 20 inches of snow in the next few days as the storm front continues to move through the region.

For more insight, check out the Cliff Mass Weather Blog at http://cliffmass.blogspot.com.