Olympic Peninsula rivers began receding this afternoon after heavy rains — particularly on the east-facing Olympics overlooking Hood Canal — caused some to crest earlier today.
The National Weather Service maintained a flood warning only for the Skykomish River near Potlatch in Mason County his afternoon. That warning continues until Saturday evening.
Otherwise, warnings were removed from the Elwha, Dungeness, Duckabush and Bogachiel rivers this afternoon.
As much as 10.5 inches of rain has fallen in the Olympics, the National Weather Service reported.
Earlier today, the Weather Service issued flood warnings for the:
— ELWHA RIVER: Flood stage is 20.0 feet, and the river reached that level around 7 a.m. It crested at the U.S. 101 bridge (McDonald Bridge) around 10 a.m., then fell below flood stage this afternoon. Flooding was reportedly minor and involved no buildings.
— DUNGENESS RIVER: Flood stage is 7.0 feet and the river was at 5.7 feet and rising at 4:30 a.m., the Weather Service reported.
The river peaked around noon, and no significant building damage was reported.
However, the Olympic Discovery Trail has been closed at Railroad Bridge Park at the Dungeness River Center. The closure is at the west end of the bridge, where three piers under the causeway have broken.
“You can go onto the bridge but you can’t go farther,” said Powell Jones, director of the center and the park.
The park closed the trail at about noon today, he said.
The piers on the former railroad trestle “gave way in the flood, but not specifically because of the flood,” Jones said. The piers have been scoured by sand for decades.
“I’m not an engineer, but they look to me that they were rotting or compromised” before the Dungeness River swelled from heavy rain.
Jones said an engineer was expected to assess the damage this afternoon.
“It’s probably not a day fix,” Jones said. “It’s probably weeks or months.”
[Clallam County Undersheriff Ron Peregrin said the following areas along the Dungeness River were under watch by authorities: Kincaid Island, up River Road to the end; Ward Road off Woodcock Road; and Land’s End near the town of Dungeness.]
— BOGACHIEL RIVER: Flood stage is 37.0 feet and the river was reported at 34.6 feet at 4 a.m.
Minor flooding resulted around noon.
— COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT: Clallam County Undersheriff Ron Peregrin said just before noon that the county’s Emergency Management Department has had no reports of flooding of roads or structures.
— DUCKABUSH RIVER: Flooding near Brinnon (see accompanying story).
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From The Associated Press:
The National Weather Service says days of heavy rainfall have increased the threat of landslides in Western Washington.
Rains that began midweek are forecast to continue through the weekend, putting extra pressure on steep hillsides and unstable bluffs for days — even after rainfall ends.
The Weather Service says a record 1.03 inches of rain fell Thursday at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, breaking the previous record for the date of 0.96 set in 1961. And a record 2.1 inches fell at Quillayute Airport on the coast, breaking the old record for the date of 1.35 inches set in 1999.
An atmospheric river blowing into the Northwest also is bringing mild temperatures and a high snow level. The 60 degrees Thursday at Bellingham Airport tied the record.
Forecasters say the weather should turn drier Tuesday in Washington.
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North Olympic Peninsula native Scott Sistek, a meteorologist with KOMO News in Seattle, writes an interesting blog on unusual aspects about our region’s weather here: http://www.komonews.com/weather/blogs/scott
