January 06, 2009

Heavy rains



The rain rate has really picked up around the area..take a look at the latest radar (9:33 PM)...lots of yellow (heavy rain). You can see the rainshadow over central Puget Sound--but it has really attenuated. Another rainshadow east is of Vancouver Is. There is heavy precipitation over the mountains...but the radar beam is blocked so you can't see it.

The infrared satellite image shows the pineapple express plume of moisture stretching far back into the Pacific. The next 24-h will bring heavy rains to the mountains..with the moisture plume slowly moving south.

A number of mountain sites have already gotten 2-4 inches. And this is just beginning.

The NWS has a nice hydrology site for those who want to see current river levels and what their models are predicting:

http://ahps2.wrh.noaa.gov/ahps2/index.php?wfo=sew

Or check out the UW Hydrology page:
http://hydromet.atmos.washington.edu/index.html

Both are going for major flooding....

25 comments:

  1. Really coming down here east of North Bend. Good-Bye snow?!?!?! Hope all those in the flood plains are taking action and good luck. Hope it's not too bad. Going out to help a friend sandbag and have friends camping out at our house tonight. We're 50 feet above the Middle Fork Snoqualmie.

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  2. The wind has been howling for hours. Scattered power outages around the Key Peninsula due to downed trees. Heavy, steady rain. The creek in our gully is really rushing.

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  3. I am at Holden Village, 48.2N 120.75W (Elev. 3224 ft), just east of Glacier Peak and we are experiencing very heavy rains upon about 4ft of snow on the ground. My husband is stuck down at Lucerne dock on Lake Chelan because the road is closed by an avalanche. Right now we don't know how many have blocked the road. He was driving the road grader when he was stopped on his way home.

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  4. I think I want to go visit tumwater falls park tomorrow. Take some nice photos. Probably going to go around 3:00. Anyone else going to go? lol

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  5. Hi Cliff - I really like the Infrared image you have posted in this article. Is that sort of thing available anywhere online? I don't see it on the NOAA site. Thanks.

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  6. Olalla: We had our power outage...slammed right down but came on again by the time I'd reached the flashlight on the shelf above the monitor. Heavier winds here the last half hour. Short spates of heavy rain.

    - Pete

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  7. Let's see...next up, what, a swarm of locusts?

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  8. Really ripping here in SE Auburn. Winds 20 gusting to 40mph with heavy rain. My evening walk was monsoon like! Don't think I've seen the metro radar from Accu-weather lit up like it is tonight. Lot's of orange and red. Feel for those living near major rivers, it's going to be a rough couple days.

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  9. Joseph, If its really bad I-5 will flood about exit 79, Hwy 6 between Adna and Doty/PeEll. Nisqually around the reservation. Grand Mound in the vicinity of Independence Valley. Also Packwood area and Randle. I haven't heard that all of those places are likely but who knows?

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  10. I just looked at the hydrology page Cliff showed from the NWS The Skookumchuck in Centralia is forecast to go over the previous record, which I believe was last year.

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  11. To answer my own question...Here is a good spot to get large satellite images and loops:
    http://weather.unisys.com/satellite/sat_ir_west_loop-12.html

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  12. Fleetwood, you can also get all sorts of current and archived imagery from the UW's site:

    http://www.atmos.washington.edu/data/weather.html

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  13. What I've been worried about since this rain started is the new dike line being constructed at the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge. The original dikes were built of glacial till that was brought in from off-site; the new construction uses riparian silts and sands scraped up from the delta itself.

    Frost heaving from December's freeze opens up soil structure and worsens erosion; experience suggests landslides as well as flooding to result from this very wet storm.

    Raining hard enough in Union Mills that it woke me up, currently 48.9F.

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  14. All Bellingham schools are closed today (Weds.) due to flooding in the area. And the rain keeps coming...

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  15. Cliff, The rain gauge at ATG roof UW appears to have stopped working around the turn of the year. Can you knock some heads together?

    http://www-k12.atmos.washington.edu/k12/grayskies/nw_weather.html

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  16. Capitol Forest Olympia, East side of the Black Hills, many creeks over the road. Still a goodly amount of snow on the ground.

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  17. Heavy rains all around, but my Shoreline location is rain-shadowed. Only 0.01 inch on the gauge in 36 hours.

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  18. This site is already overloaded
    http://ahps2.wrh.noaa.gov/ahps2/index.php?wfo=sew

    It's too bad they don't have a larger server

    All the EOC's around Thurston Lewis counties have been activated

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  19. Heh - you broked it! I checked the Skagit River flood prediction page earlier this morning, and it timed out. I see that it's still down.

    I guess I'm not the only one wondering what's going to flood and when and how high!

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  20. I've been watching the snohomish river levels near snohomish city. The river is already at action stage (20ft) and is 12 hours ahead (higher) of predicted levels. Last rain storm in november it stayed below predicted levels the whole time, so I'm thinking we might see some really bad stuff within the next 24 to 48 hours. I've heard rumors hwy 9 might close south of snohomish (in the valley) if the valley floods. I'll keep my camera close!

    Does anyone know where to go in order to offer help sandbagging, etc near snohomish city? My girlfriend and I would like to help out and we have time this afternoon. Is there a website or something we can check?

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  21. DOT Travelers Alert and info website is now down

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  22. It is strange being in the rainshadow in north Edmonds and hearing about all the flooding. Winds blew pretty good last night but no power loss. Not much rain this morning here in Redmond but outside my office window Bear Creek is pretty high, close to spilling over its banks into the surrounding fields.

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  23. I really like the NOAA weather alert radios, mine just went off on my scanner and displayed "flood warning" with the proper FIPS code. I just pressed a button and it took me to the warning.

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  24. What is all this rain people keep speaking of? Nothing but gray and breezy out. Not a drop on the ground.

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  25. schools in lewis county are on half day and closed tommorow. the local rivers are rising at approx .50 inches oor more at readings being taken at 1.5 hour intervals.

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