Many Of Washington’s Rivers Approach Flood Stage

Flood alerts were posted Tuesday for rivers throughout Western Washington as more rain and warm weather posed the danger of a repeat of the devastating floods of five years ago.

“It’s going to continue to rain, the snow’s going to continue to melt,” said Chris Burke of the National Weather Service. “It’s likely that all rivers in Western Washington will flood at some point.”

Flood warnings were in effect for the Cowlitz, Nisqually, Puyallup, Cedar, Snoqualmie, Tolt, Skokomish, Skykomish and Stillaguamish rivers.

A flood watch - a lower level of alert - was in effect for all other rivers in Western Washington and for a number of rivers flowing off the east slopes of the central and south Cascades, including the Yakima, Naches, Klickitat and Wenatchee.

Some rivers were reaching flood stage by midday, while others weren’t predicted to overflow their banks until Tuesday night or today, the weather service said.

“At this time it appears that periods of heavy rain and high freezing levels will continue through at least Wednesday afternoon,” the weather service said in posting the flood warnings. “Therefore this could be a widespread and significant flood event, with major or even near-record flooding possible on some rivers.”

Flooding creeks and mudslides closed Washington 410 at two locations east of Enumclaw early Tuesday.

No detours were available, and state Transportation Department spokesman Bill Southern said it could take days to reopen the highway north of Mount Rainier.

The closure affected access from the west for about 1,500 people who live in the town of Greenwater and around the Crystal Mountain resort.

In November 1990, 20 rivers in the state jumped their banks, causing some of the worst flooding this century in Western Washington. Two people were killed, thousands were forced from their homes and more than $40 million in damage was inflicted. In addition, heavy rains in Seattle helped sink the old Lake Washington floating bridge, being renovated as part of Interstate 90.

Rain, wind and unseasonably warm weather - with readings approaching 60 degrees in some areas - were forecast for Western Washington through today. In the Cascades, temperatures were expected in the 40s with heavy rain. Up to 6 inches of additional rain could be expected over the next few days in the Cascades, where snowpacks were rapidly melting, the weather service said.

The rain was caused by a warm weather front from Hawaii - the Pineapple Express - picking up moisture over the ocean and then hitting cooler air over the state, the agency said.