Happy Monday! It is a PinPoint Alert Day today lasting through Thursday! A very strong Atmospheric River will move in today, producing heavy rain, windy weather and eventually river flooding.
Rain is slowly increasing this morning and will be lighter for the first part of the day but increasing in coverage and intensity during the morning drive. It’ll be heaviest this afternoon and evening.
From Monday through Thursday, we expect an average of 3 - 6 inches of rain to fall in the lowlands of Western Washington, with the higher of these amounts mainly south of Puget Sound.
This much rain will likely cause some urban flooding through Wednesday and in the mountain the risk of landslides will rise next week as well. Total rainfall in the Olympics and Cascade could exceed 10” by the end of the week.
As the rain intensity picks up on Monday morning, we will also experience windy weather throughout the day. More trees could fall as soils become saturated on Monday and Tuesday. There is a Wind Advisory until 10pm for most of western Washington with sustained wind around 20-30 mph along with gusts near 40-45 mph.
If you live in an area where flooding has occurred in the past, you will likely see some of the same conditions this coming week. As the week progresses, we will likely observe more rain from Seattle southward and less rain to the north of Everett. But it’s important to point out that all of western Washington will be impacted from heavy rain this week.
Snow levels near or above 5,000 feet means snow will fall only on the higher slopes and volcanoes.
A significant amount of rain is expected for our mountains starting Monday and lasting through Wednesday. Rainfall totals over 6 inches will be common with isolated totals over 10 inches across the south Cascades. The run-off of excessive rain will eventually lead to river flooding and it looks like that threat will be greatest on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
Rivers such as the Snoqualmie, Puyallup, and Cowlitz will likely be pushed to major flood stage with moderate flooding likely on many other rivers such as: Skagit, Skykomish, Snohomish, Skokomish, Chehalis, Nisqually, Newaukum. Again, if you live along a river or in area that has flooded in the past you should be prepared for similar conditions this coming week.
We’ll be much drier during the day tomorrow, but rain will return again tomorrow evening and be heavy again through Wednesday. By Thursday the steady rain will taper off to showers with pockets of showers continuing into the weekend.
There will be adjustments to the weather forecast every day this week. Stay informed with the latest information on KIRO7.
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