Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Federal Way, WA

The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Tacoma #1, WA, 6 miles southwest of Federal Way at 25 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 77°F and low of 57°F; December is the coolest, at 47°F and 37°F. November is the wettest at 6.5 inches of precipitation on average and July the driest at 0.6 inches; the year adds up to 40.8 inches over 96 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 1 days a year. Lows fall below freezing on about 27 nights a year. That 40.8 inches is more than at 50 of the 86 Washington stations used on this site (58%). Auburn, 6 miles east, has its own station (Kent, WA): 40.3 inches a year, 0.5 less than here, and a July average high of 78°F against 77°F.

Water temperature at the NOAA tide station Tacoma, WA, 5 miles southwest, averaged 56°F in September and 48°F in March over 2021–2025. No month averaged 80°F. Sea level at the Seattle tide gauge, 20 miles from Federal Way, has risen 0.82 ± 0.03 inches per decade from 1899 to 2025, NOAA's linear trend; at that pace it is 8.2 inches in a hundred years. That is faster than at 42 of the 144 U.S. gauges with a NOAA trend.

Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 10 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Federal Way: 3 heavy rain events, 3 lightning strikes, 2 floods and 2 thunderstorm wind reports. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $9.0 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 45 mph, on May 13, 2013.

Flood insurance policyholders in Federal Way's 2 ZIP codes have filed 23 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1982, and were paid $129,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. 13% of the claims carry the name of a storm or flood event; the rest have no event name. Of the 128 Washington cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 29 have fewer than Federal Way.