2024 in Washington (state)

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See also:	History of Washington (state) Historical outline of Washington (state) List of years in Washington (state) 2024 in the United States

The following is a list of events of the year 2024 in the U.S. state of Washington .

Incumbents

State government

• Governor: Jay Inslee (D)

Events

• January 1: Highest minimum wage laws in the country go into effect at both state and local levels
  • Washington State minimum wage rises to $16.28 per hour and remains the highest state minimum wage in the United States throughout the year. ^[1]
  • Seattle minimum wage rises to $19.97 per hour, the highest for a major U.S. city. ^[2]
• March 12: primaries
  • 2024 Washington Democratic presidential primary
  • 2024 Washington Republican presidential primary
• March 13: Washington octopus protection law becomes world's first ban on octopus aquaculture.
• March 19: Seattle independent music station KEXP expands to the Bay Area with near-simulcast on KEXC transmitter. The KEXP license owner had bought the new station at auction in late 2023. ^[3]
• April 8: A partial solar eclipse was visible everywhere in the state, varying from 20% totality in Seattle to almost 30% in Pullman. ^[4]
• April 27: 2 Line (Sound Transit) partially opens with Eastside light rail service. ^[5]
• April 29: 2024 University of Washington pro-Palestinian campus occupation begins. ^[6]

Aurora borealis seen over Lake Union and Queen Anne Hill, Seattle, during May 2024 solar storms in the early morning of May 11

• May 10–11: A level 5 geomagnetic storm during the May 2024 solar storms, "the strongest geomagnetic storm in over two decades" according to NASA, ^[7] produces aurora borealis visible as far south as Florida and across Washington state, even in highly light polluted cities like Seattle. ^[8]
• May 28: The Seattle Public Library's checkout and online services were shut down by a ransomware attack. ^[9]
• June 8: Pioneer Fire, the first large fire of the 2024 Washington wildfire season, begins. ^[10]
  • July 28: Town of Stehekin ordered to evacuate (by boat) due to Pioneer Fire. ^[11]
• August 1: Washington's first state-funded electric vehicle rebate program begins, with $45 million earmarked for low-income households buying or leasing. ^[12] It was called the nation's first rebate program to incentivize EV leases for low-income drivers. ^[13]
• July 23: Retreat Fire begins as the result of a propane tank explosion. ^[14] The fire would later cause evacuations and the closure of U.S. Route 12 over White Pass for over three weeks. ^[15]
• August 24, 2024: In the 2024 CrowdStrike-related IT outages, digital infrastructure at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, including its website, phone lines, check-in system, and automated baggage sorting, was disabled by a cyberattack. ^[16]
• August 27: A Seattle University engineering professor and mountaineer publishes his findings that Columbia Crest is no longer the summit of Mount Rainier, due to glacial shrinking, and the mountain's GPS-measured height is 14,399.6 feet. ^{[17] [18]}
• August 30: Lynnwood Link extension opens, extending Seattle area light rail north into Snohomish County. ^[19]
• September 13: More than 33,000 machinists go on strike against Boeing, many of whom work at Seattle, Renton, and Everett plants. ^[20]
• October 10: A large geomagnetic storm produced northern lights in Seattle, ^[21] and elsewhere in the United States as far south as Washington D.C. ^[22]
• October 21: Five members of a family, including three teenagers, are killed in a mass shooting in Fall City. ^[23]
• November 4: Boeing machinists vote to end their 53 day strike. ^{[24] [25]}
• November 5: state and federal elections are held during the 2024 Washington elections.
  • Federal
    • 2024 United States presidential election in Washington (state)
    • 2024 United States Senate election in Washington
    • 2024 United States House of Representatives elections in Washington
  • State
    • 2024 Washington gubernatorial election
    • 2024 Washington Attorney General election
    • Ballot measures
      • 2024 Washington Initiative 2109  – Proposed repeal of state capital gains tax
      • 2024 Washington Initiative 2117  – Proposed repeal of state carbon tax cap and trade laws
      • 2024 Washington Initiative 2124  – Proposal to make employee participation in state long-term care program voluntary
• November 19–20: The November 2024 Northeast Pacific bomb cyclone resulted in over 600,000 people in the Seattle area without electricity, and killed two Washington individuals. ^[26]

Sports

National events

• January 1: 2024 NHL Winter Classic
• PSA World Tour Finals
  • June 18: 2024 Men's PSA World Tour Finals
  • June 18: 2024 Women's PSA World Tour Finals began
• June 20: 2024 Women's PGA Championship began
• July 28–August 3: Junior League World Series (softball) in Kirkland ^[27]
• August 10: 2024 NAPA Auto Care 150 in West Richland; inaugural event of new annual race ^[28]
• October 12: WrestleDream (2024)

Local teams

• August: University of Washington Huskies football team leaves Pac-12 Conference ^[29]
  • September: First non-conference Apple Cup ^[a] (UW Huskies vs WSU Cougars) ^[30]

See also

• 2024 in the United States

Footnotes

1. since foundation of conference's predecessor, Athletic Association of Western Universities, in 1959 (the cup's foundation in 1900 predates the conference)

References

1. Boone, Rolf (October 1, 2024). "Washington state's minimum wage set to increase Jan. 1. Here's how much it will change". The Olympian . Olympia, Washington. Archived from the original on October 1, 2024. Retrieved October 4, 2024– via Yahoo! News.
2. Hyde, David (January 1, 2024). "Seattle now has highest minimum wage of any major city in the United States". Seattle: KUOW. Archived from the original on September 24, 2024. Retrieved October 4, 2024.
3. Fuller, Austin (March 22, 2024), "Seattle's KEXP launches signal in San Francisco Bay Area", Current , American University School of Communication
4. Smith, Helen (April 2, 2024). "Here's how much of the eclipse you can expect to see in Washington state". Seattle: KING-TV. While the path of totality is only 115 miles wide, people will be able to see a partial eclipse for thousands of miles in either direction.
5. Lindblom, Mike; Kroman, David (April 27, 2024). "Eastside light rail line opens as huge crowds try out the ride". The Seattle Times. Archived from the original on May 7, 2024. Retrieved April 27, 2024.
6. de Luna, Ruby (2024-04-29). "University of Washington students join pro-Palestinian campus protest movement". www.kuow.org. Archived from the original on 2024-04-30. Retrieved 2024-05-17.
7. "Historic Geomagnetic Storm Dazzles". Official website. NASA Earth Observatory.
8. "Another big aurora tonight". Cliff Mass Weather Blog. Seattle: Cliff Mass. May 11, 2024. Archived from the original on May 25, 2024. Retrieved October 4, 2024. [O]n the top of the kite hill of Magnuson Park, where it is dark and the view unimpeded...the sky was ablaze with shimmering curtains and lines of color, mainly green and red.
9. Gaitán, Catalina (May 28, 2024). "Seattle Public Library goes offline after ransomware event". The Seattle Times. Retrieved May 29, 2024.
10. Rodriguez, Oscar (June 9, 2024). "Pioneer Fire near Lake Chelan at 300 acres, evacuation notice issued". The Wenatchee World . Retrieved August 9, 2024.
11. Jonathan Martin; Caitlyn Freeman (July 28, 2024). "Stehekin, pressed by wildfire, is under evacuation but many may stay". The Seattle Times. Archived from the original on August 9, 2024. Retrieved October 3, 2024.
12. Opong, Diana (August 1, 2024). "Charge up, Washington! State launches rebate program for electric vehicles". Seattle: KUOW. Archived from the original on September 15, 2024. Retrieved October 4, 2024.
13. Stiffler, Lisa (September 27, 2024). "Washington state drivers snap up EV rebates so fast that half of funds are gone 60 days into program". Geekwire .
14. Carleen Johnson, "Retreat Fire damages Yakima Tieton Irrigation Canal; crops could suffer", Center Square, archived from the original on 2024-10-07, retrieved 2024-10-03– via MSN
15. Ayer, Tammy (18 August 2024). "U.S. Highway 12 reopened Saturday after Retreat Fire closure". The Chronicle. Archived from the original on 21 August 2024. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
16. Freeman, Caitlyn (August 26, 2024). "Little known about cyberattack that has disrupted Sea-Tac Airport". The Seattle Times. Retrieved September 11, 2024.
17. Williams, Allison (September 6, 2024), "Rainier Is Shorter Than We All Thought", Seattle Met
18. Swanson, Conrad (October 6, 2024). "Mount Rainier is shrinking and now has a new summit". The Seattle Times. Archived from the original on October 7, 2024. Retrieved October 7, 2024.
19. Deshais, Nicholas; Lindblom, Mike (August 30, 2024). "New light rail stations draw big crowds for first trips". The Seattle Times. Archived from the original on August 30, 2024. Retrieved August 30, 2024.
20. Rose, Joel (September 13, 2024). "Boeing machinists go on strike after rejecting contract". NPR . Archived from the original on October 7, 2024. Retrieved September 13, 2024.
21. "Northern lights wowed us in Western Washington on Thursday night". The Seattle Times. October 11, 2024.
22. Christopher Maag; Tim Balk. "Rare Northern Lights Entrance Viewers in New York and Beyond". The New York Times– via MSN.
23. Limehouse, Jonathan. "Juvenile in custody after 5 people killed, including 3 children, in Washington state home". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2024-10-24.
24. Josephs, Leslie (November 4, 2024). "Boeing machinists end strike after approving labor contract with 38% raises". MSNBC.
25. Giorno, Taylor (November 5, 2024). "Boeing machinists vote to end strike after 53 days". The Hill.
26. "2 killed, more than 600,000 without power in Western Washington amid pacific bomb cyclone winds". Seattle: KUOW-FM. November 20, 2024.
27. "2024 Junior League Softball World Series Game Schedule".
28. Hoyt, Jedediah (August 9, 2024). "NASCAR returns to Tri-City Raceway after 20 years, featuring legend Greg Biffle". Pasco, Washington: KEPR-TV. Archived from the original on September 10, 2024. Retrieved September 30, 2024.
29. Russo, Ralph D. (August 4, 2023). "University of Washington announces they are leaving Pac-12 for Big Ten". Seattle: KIRO-TV. Archived from the original on October 7, 2024. Retrieved September 30, 2024.
30. Jensen, Jim (August 14, 2024), The 2024 Apple Cup will be played in Seattle in September. Here's why, Tacoma: KCPQ, archived from the original on September 20, 2024, retrieved September 30, 2024