Thunderstorm in Seattle Now - Great pictures!

                                                Cliff Mass Weather Blog Wednesday, August 12, 2015                      

There have been dozens of lightning strikes during the past 1/2 hr...here is one photographed by Aaron Brethorst looking towards the south.

 

A modestly strong thunderstorm cell is moving northward across south Seattle now, with rain and lightning. The heaviest rain is heading to the NE, with Mercer Island and Bellevue getting the worst of it.

Below is the view from the Space Needle at 11:50 AM...you can see the rain falling out (virga).

On the right is the instantaneous rain rate at 11:48 AM and 12:03 PM...pouring over southeast Seattle..heading toward Mercer Island. Downtown Seattle is only getting a "taste" of the action

above: the radar shows fairly intense precipitation (red colors) at 11:33 AM and below a close up at 11:58 AM

Was it in the forecast?  The National Weather Service did have a chance of showers and Thunderstorms in the forecast for today.