Rain and wind are back in Western Washington and it will be a wet and windy day today. A Wind Advisory is out until Wednesday night for wind gusts over 40mph in some areas and that will threaten more fallen trees and power outages today. Rain totals around Puget Sound could exceed 1 – 2” just today with higher amounts in the mountain.
Flooding continues on all rivers in the area….some with record or near-record levels. Some forecast models predict an additional 5” of rain in the mountains on top of what has already fallen. The risk for mud slides and flooding remains very high.
Rivers will rise throughout the day today and the peak crests of most rivers are not expected until tomorrow. River levels into Friday will continue to be above normal and there will be issues with urban flooding when the heaviest downpours hit today.
Major flooding is expected on many of our river systems with crests higher than what we observed on Monday and into Tuesday. Major flooding is expected on the following rivers with the following times of peak river levels (subject to change with new forecasts).
Some minor coastal flooding is also possible, especially near the time of high tide and near where rivers empty into the Salish Sea.
Adding to the weather mix for today …. A Wind Advisory is posted and will be in effect through tonight. Wind gusts over 40 mph are possible all day and the risk for falling trees is high. Heavy rain, high winds, flooding and falling trees sum up the forecast today. Travel with caution.
Drier weather will be in the forecast from Thursday afternoon through Friday and the weekend with most rivers dropping quickly into the weekend though hazards will still remain, with debris and dangerous river currents.
While the weekend’s weather looks calmer, there are prospects for more warm, wet, windy weather systems next week – possibly with some atmospheric river components. It appears that we won’t have an end to the flooding threat in Western Washington through next week.
KIRO 7 will have live team coverage of this ongoing flooding threat through the event. Stay with us on-air and online.
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