Day 26: Rain a wet blanket on Seattle; record nears

SEATTLE -- People in water-logged Washington now have official confirmation of something they've been suspecting: It's been raining a lot.

Seattle had its 26th straight day of rain yesterday and was just a week short of the 1953 record of 33 consecutive rainy days.

Daily rainfall records have already fallen in Seattle and Olympia.

More seriously, officials worried about the potential for more landslides and floods, warning that the saturated landscape can't hold much more water.

''What we need is a reprieve," Tony Fantello, maintenance and operations manager for Pierce County Water Programs in Tacoma, told The News Tribune. ''Everything is just overtaxed. Even 24 to 36 hours of dry conditions really help take the heat off."

No dice. Mostly light rain fell early yesterday, and the National Weather Service predicted more over the next 10 days.

Meteorologist Danny Mercer said he thinks the rain will continue at least until Jan. 20, when Seattle would tie the 1953 mark. ''We have a front coming in almost every single day, with very few breaks in between these systems," Mercer said.

A respite could come tomorrow or late next week, but it's more likely that the rain will only lessen, possibly with a few hours of scattered sunshine, he said.