The National Weather Service was planning as of The Chronicle’s press time to drop a flood watch issued Tuesday for most of Western Washington — including Lewis, Thurston and Grays Harbor counties.

    NWS Meteorologist Jay Albrecht said a system of heavy wind and rain predicted to pummel the Cascades and Olympic mountains is now moving north and will likely pass over British Columbia.

    Rather than heavy rain and potential flooding, Southwest Washington will get mild precipitation.

    “We’ll get a fairly decent shot of rain, but it will be lighter than we expected with most places getting less than an inch,” Albrecht said.

    The forecast calls for more wet weather this weekend. Albrecht said there could be periods of heavy rain on Friday and Saturday, but that it is not expected to last long enough to create a flood threat.

    “That’s going to give a burst of precipitation but it’s not going to last,” he said.

    Albrecht said the amount of time between the two systems should allow river levels to recede.

    Lewis County recently began posting river levels on its Web site at rivers.lewiscountywa.gov.