Heavy Rain Brings Flood Threat

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By By KOMO Staff & News Services

Summary

Rain, wind, ice and snow buffeted Washington on Monday, bringing ice storms to the Cascades and a threat of serious flooding in the western half of the state.

Story Published: Jan 17, 2005 at 11:07 PM PDT

Story Updated: Aug 31, 2006 at 1:50 AM PDT

Heavy Rain Brings Flood Threat
SEATTLE - Record rains, along with wind, ice, sleet and snow, buffeted Washington, bringing ice storms to much of the Cascades and Eastern Washington and a serious flood threat to at least 12 rivers in the western half of the state.

The National Weather Service issued flood warnings for most of the larger rivers feeding into Puget Sound and Washington's marine waters, and flood watches for numerous smaller streams.

The Vancouver area and Vancouver Island in neighboring British Columbia also were hard hit, with numerous road closures reported in Vancouver and the suburbs of Burnaby, Langley and Surrey.

"We're not floating away just yet," said Ted Townsend, a spokesman in Richmond, British Columbia, home of Vancouver International Airport, "but the flooding is widespread throughout the community."

The storm was spawned by a typical Pacific Northwest winter weather pattern known as a "Pineapple Express" because it circulates warm, wet air from north of Hawaii into the region, weather service meteorologist Dana Felton said.

"It's very moist and we're experiencing a lot of precipitation in the mountains," Felton said.

Occasionally heavy rain was forecast through Thursday west of the Cascade Range, as much as 10 inches total for the storm in some areas, and more downpours could come Friday night and Saturday.

Flood warnings were issued for the Nooksack, Skagit, Skykomish, Snoqualmie, Snohomish, Stillaguamish, Tolt, Puyallup rivers in the Puget Sound area, the Skookumchuck River, the Skokomish River near the elbow of Hood Canal in Mason County, the Satsop River and Cowlitz River in southwestern Washington.

Major flooding appeared likely along the lower Skagit and Snohomish rivers, and forecasters warned that levees could fail if waters rise much higher than predicted as of Tuesday morning.

Most of the rivers were expected to crest between Tuesday evening and midday Wednesday.

As of Tuesday morning, 24-hour rainfall totals included 4.45 inches at Quillayute on the Pacific coast, 4.29 inches at Shelton, near Olympia, 2.74 inches at Bremerton and 2.36 inches at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. Records for Jan. 17 were set with 2.39 inches at Sea-Tac, breaking the mark of 0.94 set in 1997, and 2.21 in Olympia, eclipsing a high of 1.48 recorded in 1986.

In Spokane and across much of Eastern Washington and north Idaho, rain met freezing temperatures, creating a layer of ice. An ice storm warning was canceled Tuesday for the eastern slopes of the Cascades.

The State Patrol responded to 186 crashes Monday in Whitman, Adams, Ferry, Pend Oreille, Stevens and Spokane counties. Only minor injuries were reported "but lots of damage to guardrails and Jersey barriers," Trooper Jim Hays said.

Spokane County sheriff's deputies responded to about 50 crashes and Spokane police responded to more than 20.

Interstate 90 across Snoqualmie Pass, the state's main east-west route across the Cascade Range, was closed for about six hours early Monday and briefly again early Tuesday because of "very extreme" ice conditions that caused numerous blocking accidents, said state Department of Transportation spokesman Mike Westbay at Easton, just east of the pass.

There were no immediate reports of any serious accidents.

A slide closed Washington 11, Chuckanut Drive, near the Skagit-Whatcom county line in the same area where the road was closed by a slide last week.

In Seattle's Magnolia neighborhood, a landslide dumped dirt and brush on West Galer Street, temporarily cutting off road access to four houses. No damage or injuries were reported.

"When Mother Nature decides to let loose, I guess there's not too much we can do about it," homeowner Jennifer Pecknold said.