There is a possibility of flooding in rivers and low-lying areas of Grays Harbor, according to the National Weather Service.
“It’s a couple things. Primarily, over the weekend, we had a weaker atmospheric river affect the area. It helped put some snow in the higher terrain, in the Olympics and Cascades,” said NWS meteorologist Kirby Cook in a phone interview. “Now we’re looking at a second stronger atmospheric river moving into the region starting this morning.”
Seven to ten inches is predicted to fall on the Olympics early this week, with closer to three to five inches along the coast.
“In addition to the heavy rain, it’s going to bring warmer temperatures,” Cook said. “The heaviest precipitation is expected to be this evening, especially over the Olympics.”
Screenshot / National Weather Service
Higher temperatures means most of the precipitation under 9,000 feet is expected to fall as rain instead of snow, feeding directly into the rivers instead of collecting in the snowpack, Cook said.
“For you guys, you have the Chehalis River,” Cook said. “There are a lot of rivers feeding the the Chehalis. It’s going to collect a lot of water from a lot of basins upstream.”
The Chehalis River’s tracking station at Porter has the river on track to hit minor flooding stage on Thursday, said county emergency management program manager Nick Falley in a phone interview.
“No matter what river we’re talking about, the flows on rivers are going to be elevated,” Cook said. “As always, pay attention to the forecast and use that to make good decisions.”
Screenshot / National Weather Service
The weather also brings high winds. There’s also a potential for high surf on the coast, according to county emergency management.
“In addition to that, we also have a wind advisory. For that area, for the whole Washington coast,” Cook said. “The system that’s moving in is going to give us a little bit of wind as well.”
While things will taper off toward the end of the week, the harsh weather isn’t over, Cook said.
“We may be seeing another system moving in Saturday into Sunday,” Cook said. “That’s another thing we’re keeping an eye on.”
Turn around, don’t drown
High rains means there’s a possibility of rivers flooding, but also of ponding and flooding near streams and creeks or in urban or flood-prone areas, Cook said.
“Don’t drive through them,” Cook said. “You don’t know what’s under the water.”
Stalling in high-water areas is a dangerous place to be, Falley said. According to the NWS, most deaths from flooding occur inside a vehicle.
Follow Grays Harbor Emergency Management’s social media page for updates on the weather affecting the county.
Contact Senior Reporter Michael S. Lockett at 757-621-1197 or mlockett@thedailyworld.com.
