A road closed sign is seen knocked down as the Newaukum Riveflooded Hamilton Road near the LaBree Road overpass in Chehalis.
The Newaukum River floods over onto Hamilton Road near the LaBree Road overpass in Chehalis Friday afternoon.
A mailbox post is seen half underwater as the Newaukum River flooded Hamilton Road near the LaBree Road overpass in Chehalis.
The Newaukum River floods Hamilton Road near the LaBree Overpass in Chehalis Friday afternoon.
The Newaukum River floods a portion of Hamilton Road near the LaBree Overpass in Chehalis in December 2017
Officials say that a winter storm system that swept through the region Thursday and Friday likely peaked early Friday evening and better days might be ahead.
Early Thursday, a severe weather advisory was put in place for Western Washington including warnings of avalanches and freezing rain in the mountain passes in addition to excessive winds and possible flooding. Initially, meteorologists noted that they were unsure of where the worst of the storm would hit and said that the severity of weather conditions would vary greatly from one location to another. As it turned out, the worst of the winter weather made its way north of Thurston County.
“It looks like really the only river down your way that’s been causing any problems today is the Newaukum River, and it seems like it may be close to not going up anymore,” said Logan Johnson, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Seattle, on Friday evening. Johnson said he expected the Newaukum to crest by late Friday or early Saturday. The river was at 11.26 feet in Chehalis around 6 p.m. on Friday, which is considered minor flood stage. Earlier forecasts had called for a crest of just over 12 feet around 3 a.m. on Saturday.
However, other area waterways prone to flooding were spared this time.
“I’m looking at the Chehalis River itself here and it’s several feet below flood stage so there’s not really anything to worry about there,” said Johnson, who added that there has not been any threat of flooding on the Cowlitz River either. “Maybe some of the smaller creeks are running high, but that’s about it.”
Locally, Centralia received approximately 1.5 inches of rain from Thursday to Friday evening while multiple locations near Cinebar topped 2.5 inches of rain in that same time period.
Johnson said that travel over the north Cascade Mountain passes proved to be more difficult than getting around most low-lying areas.
“Today’s been kind of a mixed bag. The Central and Northern Cascades, north of Snoqualmie Pass, have seen quite a bit of snow and ice today but the South has been quite a bit warmer,” said Johnson, who noted that Paradise at Mount Rainier received about 5 inches of rain from Thursday to Friday. He said that the snow level in the South Cascades was pushed all the way up to about 6,000 feet during the storm but freezing rain and snow are expected to return Friday night and early Saturday morning.
Johnson added that winds as high as 50 miles per hour were reported at White Pass on Friday but most winds in the area topped out closer to 25-30 miles per hour.
“If you get north of Olympia it will be a little more of a concern,” said Johnson.
Looking ahead, Johnson says folks can expect more typical winter temperatures in the near future.
“Today was the warmest day of the next seven days,” said Johnson, who believes Saturday’s weather will turn to showers before at least some sunshine returns on Sunday. “Looking at the radar right now, that big area of heavy steady rain that we dealt with today is definitely out of the area now.”
