Warmer weather, rain trigger some flooding in Spokane region

Heavy rain and snow in recent days combined with milder temperatures Friday to trigger a new round of flooding problems.

Spokane International Airport hit 54 degrees – the first time since Nov. 26 the temperature has climbed above 50.

Forecasters say the milder weather will continue through next week with highs in the lower to mid-50s each day.

Several roads in Spokane County were closed, including a rural segment of Latah Creek Road south of Valley Chapel Road and Blanchard Road from Chapman to Ross Creek roads.

Paradise Creek in Moscow, Idaho, spilled over its banks Thursday night but receded Friday. City crews had help from firefighters and volunteers in protecting vulnerable spots along the creek.

The South Fork of the Palouse River also approached flood stage in Pullman and Potlatch. The stream had risen to the level of a pedestrian bridge.

The National Weather Service had a flood watch in effect for the Inland Northwest, but let the watch lapse Friday afternoon.

Forecasters had warned of high stream flows, ponding water in low-lying areas and the potential of snow and landslides.

A large snow and landslide covered state Highway 20 Thursday night near Newhalem on the west end of the North Cascades Highway. Snow slides also closed Stevens Pass on U.S. Highway 2, but it reopened by Friday afternoon.

Snoqualmie Pass on Interstate 90 has been closed off and on since last week but was open Friday with bare and wet conditions.

An overnight closure on Snoqualmie Pass is planned for Saturday night, according to the state Department of Transportation. The closure is for refueling and replacing portable lighting in the ongoing construction zone east of the pass.

Lookout Pass on I-90 in North Idaho was open Friday with icy patches.

This has been a record-setting wet winter in the Spokane region. The weather service Friday said that the period from Oct. 1 through March 7 had the most precipitation on record in Spokane, with 16.28 inches of rain or snow-water equivalent.

That eclipsed the 15.6 inches of precipitation for the same period in 1973-74.

Helping to accelerate the runoff were gusty southwest winds on Friday. The strongest steady winds were at 30 mph with gusts to 38 mph at the Spokane airport .

On state Highway 206 to Mount Spokane, a fallen tree forced closure of one lane early Friday. Other roads in Spokane that closed were Ross Creek, Conklin, Elder and Kellogg roads.

The Idaho Panhandle Avalanche Center listed avalanche risk as moderate in North Idaho.

“We’ve received about one foot of snow on the level since last week and steady westerly winds have piled it up even deeper on lee aspects,” the center posted on its website.

“Warming temperatures with the most recent accumulation of several inches last night will have created an unstable situation at the surface, particularly in those wind-loaded areas.”

An avalanche warning was also in effect for the Cascades.