The wind and rain is back. Expect 2 more rounds this week in the Olympia area

After a dry summer, the wind and rain has returned to the Olympia area and those conditions are expected to continue through Friday, a National Weather Service meteorologist said Monday evening.

The week got off to a wet start, with about .38 inches of rain falling at Olympia Regional Airport on Monday, although it was as much as a half-inch in some places, said Jacob DeFlitch.

It was windy, too, according to NWS data.

Gusty winds of 20 miles per hour or more blew through the area Monday morning, followed by a peak gust of 32 miles per hour just before 4 p.m., the data show. The gusty winds produced scattered power outages on Monday, according to Puget Sound Energy data.

Now, another weather system is expected to roll through the area Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning, bringing more rain and wind, with gusts of 20-25 miles per hour, DeFlitch said.

Rainfall totals could be around one inch or maybe a little more, he said.

That system will be followed by one more Thursday and Friday, although it is expected to be weaker, likely bringing up to a half-inch of rain, DeFlitch said.

The weekend is expected to be dry with temperatures in the mid to upper 60s, he said.

So how dry was it this past summer in the Olympia area?

Between June 1 and Sept. 1, the area received 1.62 inches of rain, making it the 12th driest summer on record since 1941. A normal amount of rainfall for the same period is three inches, DeFlitch said.