April Showers Test Limits of Area Rivers

Posted

A spectacular display of April rain over the weekend pushed two area rivers to the brink of flood stage, and a winter advisory warning from the National Weather Service on Monday put travelers on notice for trips over the passes.

At about 1 a.m. on Monday morning, an alert went out indicating that the Chehalis River was approaching flood stage near Porter in east Grays Harbor County. Minor flood stage on that section of river is set at 21 feet with an alert stage of 20 feet. At midday on Monday, the river was running at 20.35 feet and it was expected to crest around 20.48 feet by 5 p.m.

An onslaught of rain on Saturday and early Sunday around the greater Chehalis River Basin caused the river to make a charge at the banks near Porter after it had been running at less than 13 feet around midnight Friday. Near Grand Mound, where minor flood stage is set at 14 feet, the Chehalis River topped out at 12.99 feet on Sunday night around 11 p.m. and then continued to drop gradually throughout Monday.

According to Johnny Berg, meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Seattle, total rainfall topped more than two inches in some areas around Lewis County, including one weather station northeast of Onalaska that reported 2.14 inches over the weekend. In a related matter, the Newaukum River rose to 8.9 feet near its confluence with the Chehalis River before the meter began to fall around 11 a.m. on Sunday. Minor flood stage on that section of river is 10.5 feet.

The Skookumchuck River also made a run at its banks near Bucoda. Minor flood stage is set at 13.5 feet in that area and the river crested at 12.94 feet on Sunday around 4 p.m. That rise in river level included a spike of four feet from Saturday morning through Sunday morning, but flows had dropped back down to around 10 feet by Monday.

In other areas, Mineral received 1.38 inches on Saturday alone and Chehalis was hit with 1.5 inches in two days. Berg said slightly lower rain totals accumulated to the south in areas like Toledo.

On Monday the National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning for the Cascade Mountain passes and elevated areas of Lewis and Pierce counties. That warning included heavy snow accumulations over White Pass and at Mount Rainier.



“The winter storm warning for the Cascades is for about 3,000 feet and I think the passes already had about 11 inches reported and they are still expecting another 6 to 7 inches before midnight tonight for a total of 12 to 18 inches,” said Berg around midday on Monday.

The storm warning advised travelers to plan ahead for difficult road conditions with the possibility of tree branches in the roadway and impaired visibility. A press release noted that, “a winter storm warning for snow means severe winter weather conditions will make travel very hazardous or impossible. If you must travel, keep an extra flashlight, food and water in your vehicle in case of an emergency.”

There was a bit of sunshine tucked into Berg’s report as well. You just have to wait until the end of the work week.

“The good news for those folks who are tired of the rain is that it looks like the sun is going to come out later this week,” said Berg, who predicted high temperatures in the upper 60s on Thursday with sun continuing on Friday and temperatures topping 60 degrees again.

“I should also mention that there is an increased risk of landslides through Tuesday and then that should subside,” added Berg.

For up-to-date road conditions around Washington dial 511.