The National Weather Service has issued a flood watch for much of Western Washington, including Lewis County, through Tuesday night.
Meanwhile, a winter storm warning was issued at the same time for heavy snow above 3,000 feet in elevation in the Cascade mountains and valleys particularly in Pierce and Lewis counties.
Areas including Crystal Mountain Ski Area, Paradise on Mount Rainier, Ashford, Randle and Packwood were first predicted to see 10 to 30 inches of snow, according to the National Weather Service, but were downgraded to a storm “watch,” with 4 to 8 inches possible above 4,000 feet.
Meteorologist Jacob DeFlitch of the National Weather Service in Seattle said the populated valley areas near Randle and Packwood shouldn’t expect too much snow.
“Most of it is going to be more or less in the higher elevations,” he said Monday morning, of the predicted snowfall. “Once you get down to the valley of Randle and Packwood it’s going to be more of a rain event.”
Much of the weather Monday morning was driven by a warm front, DeFlitch said, but he noted a cold front would be coming through Tuesday.
As of Monday morning Lewis County had seen one to two inches of accumulated rainfall, DeFlitch said.
“That steady rain will continue through this afternoon,” he said. The rain was then expected to taper off Monday night and continue Tuesday.
The flood watch was issued at about 3:30 a.m. Monday. It covers counties including Clallam, Grays Harbor, Jefferson, Mason, Skagit, Whatcom, King, Lewis, Pierce Snohomish and Thurston.
Heavy rain is expected through Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service, with heaviest rainfall in the areas of the Olympic and Cascade mountain ranges.
“This will cause significant rises on rivers beginning Monday morning, with a few rivers expected to reach minor flood stage overnight Monday into Tuesday,” according to the flood watch.
As of Monday morning, no Lewis County Rivers were expected to reach flood stage, but all were predicted to swell by several feet.
“We do have a flood watch in place, there is a number of rivers we are keeping an eye on,” DeFlitch said. “At the moment the ones in Lewis County look to stay below minor flood stage. The rivers are going to rise no matter what.”
The Newaukum River at Chehalis is expected to get within 2 feet of flood stage, and the Chehalis River at Grand Mound was predicted to get within inches of minor flood stage.
On Monday afternoon, buses in the Toledo School District were placed on alternate routes due to water over roadways.
Residents of Centralia’s Waunch Prairie area experienced a weather-related power outage early Monday morning, beginning at about 4 a.m., with power completely out by 6 a.m., said Centralia City Light General Manager M.L. Norton. Norton said a power connector failed causing a wire to fall to the ground.
The wind-caused outage was close to being repaired as of about 8:30 a.m., he said.
