Peninsula Daily News
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OCEAN SHORES — A new radar station on the Pacific coast helped the National Weather Service issue a flood advisory today for the north coast of the Olympic Peninsula.
A meteorologist at the office in Seattle, Carl Cerniglia, said the Doppler radar near Ocean Shores was being tested and it confirmed the heavy rain already experienced in some areas.
He says, “We saw what they had already and we saw what they had offshore, and it lent confidence in us issuing that advisory.”
Small streams could flood on the West end and parts of Grays Harbor County because of 2 inches to 3 inches of rain expected in the area by 7 p.m. By noon, 2.25 inches had fallen at Quillayute airfield about 10 miles west of Forks. The one-day record at Quillayute is 2.39 set in 1975.
Here is the official National Weather Service advisory derived in part from the new Doppler station:
JEFFERSON-GRAYS HARBOR-CLALLAM-
1110 AM PDT MON AUG 22 2011
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SEATTLE HAS ISSUED A
* SMALL STREAM FLOOD ADVISORY FOR… WESTERN CLALLAM COUNTY… WESTERN JEFFERSON COUNTY… NORTHWESTERN GRAYS HARBOR COUNTY…
* UNTIL 700 PM PDT MONDAY.
* AT 1102 AM PDT OBSERVATIONS AND DOPPLER WEATHER RADAR SHOW AN AREA OF HEAVY RAINFALL ASSOCIATED WITH AN INCOMING FRONTAL SYSTEM.
RAINFALL RATES OF BETWEEN ONE QUARTER AND ONE HALF OF AN INCH PER HOUR ARE OCCURRING WITH THIS BAND. TWO TO THREE INCHES OF RAIN ARE POSSIBLE THROUGH 7 PM THIS EVENING ALONG THE NORTH WASHINGTON COAST.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…
EXCESSIVE RUNOFF FROM HEAVY RAINFALL WILL CAUSE ELEVATED LEVELS ON SMALL CREEKS AND STREAMS…AND PONDING OF WATER ON COUNTRY ROADS AND FARMLAND ALONG THE BANKS OF CREEKS AND STREAMS.
DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE THE WATER COVERS THE ROADWAY. THE WATER DEPTH MAY BE TOO GREAT TO ALLOW YOUR CAR TO CROSS SAFELY. MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND.
TO REPORT FLOODING…HAVE THE NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY RELAY YOUR REPORT TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORECAST OFFICE.