Western Washington’s first real rain of fall just ended a historically dry October. Watch your gutters this week.

Tacoma, Wash. — Oct. 25, 2026. Rain finally came back to western Washington overnight. FOX 13 Seattle reported Sunday that widespread rain brought 0.20 to nearly 1 inch across the region, with many spots between 0.20 and about half an inch and the coast closing in on an inch. That was more rain in one morning than the area had seen all of October.

It ended a remarkably dry month. A week earlier, KIRO Newsradio meteorologist Ted Buehner reported that Sea‑Tac Airport had picked up only 0.13 inches of rain in October, putting Seattle on track for one of its driest Octobers on record. Leaves, fir needles and roof grit kept landing in gutters the whole time. Sunday’s storm was the first real rain to move it.

What happened

A dry October ended with one wet morning

FOX 13’s Sunday forecast called for scattered showers to linger into Monday, then a stronger, colder system on Wednesday with the first chance of a dusting of snow near the mountain passes. The trend still pointed to drier weather in time for Halloween.

Buehner’s Oct. 19 report put this October next to the driest in Seattle’s records:

Normal fall rain in the South Sound ramps up fast from here. Tacoma’s 30‑year averages show November, not December, is the wettest month of the year:

The angle most coverage missed

Why the first storm after a dry spell is the hard one for gutters

A dry October is good news for a lot of things. It’s bad news for gutters. During dry weeks, leaves and needles land in the trough and stay light and loose because nothing moves them. The first steady rain floats that whole layer toward the low end of each run, which is exactly where the downspout outlet sits.

On a lot of the South Sound homes we work on, the clog forms right there, often around a wad of maple leaves or a mat of Douglas fir needles. Once the outlet is plugged, the rest of the gutter fills like a trough with the drain closed. That’s why one corner of the house overflows while the rest looks fine.

The volume adds up quickly. Every inch of rain on 1,000 square feet of roof is about 623 gallons. On a 2,000‑square‑foot roof, half an inch of rain is roughly 623 gallons headed for a handful of downspouts.

1. Half an inch 623 gal

   ½ inch on a 2,000 sq ft roof

   About what many spots picked up Sunday morning.

2. One inch 1,247 gal

   1 inch on the same roof

   Roughly what the wettest coastal spots saw.

3. October normal 5,099 gal

   4.09 inches

   A normal October in Tacoma, all of it through your gutters.

4. November normal 8,103 gal

   6.50 inches

   Tacoma’s wettest month, per NOAA normals.

Math: inches of rain × roof square feet × 0.623 gallons.

Read your gutters in the rain

Five things your gutters showed you this weekend

1. Water sheeting over the front edge in one section

Almost always a blocked outlet or downspout at the low end of that run. The gutter itself is fine. It needs a gutter cleaning and a downspout flush.

2. Water dripping behind the gutter, between it and the fascia

Different problem. The gutter may have pulled away, the pitch may be off, or a seam may be open. This is the overflow that rots fascia boards, so it’s worth a gutter repair check, not just a cleaning.

3. A gutter full of water while the downspout is quiet

The blockage is in the downspout or the elbow at the bottom. Leaves compress into a plug at the first bend.

4. Water splashing at inside corners

Corners and valleys collect runoff from two roof planes. A little splash in a downpour is normal. A steady sheet means the corner is undersized or blocked.

5. A puddle or washed‑out bed at the downspout

The gutter is working, but the water lands too close to the house. Check for an extension and ground that slopes away.

What to do now

What to do before the next round of rain

• Write down where it overflowed: front, back corner, over the porch. It turns a guess into a quick fix.

• Stay off the ladder while it’s wet. Wet rungs, wet roofs and soft ground are how DIY gutter falls start.

• Clean in the next dry window. A proper gutter cleaning in Seattle and Tacoma clears every run by hand and runs each downspout until it drains.

• If the same run overflows every fall under the same tree, ask about gutter guards. They cut down how often you need a cleaning. They don’t eliminate it.

• Living in Tacoma? Our Tacoma gutter services page covers what we see most in each neighborhood.

Want a price without a visit? Use our gutter cost calculator to see an instant price range, send us photos, book a cleaning online or call (425) 828-3000.