Rains drench region

The Coeur d’Alene Airport in Hayden received more than 2 inches of rain in Monday’s storm.

But that’s nothing compared to what fell nearby.

In some parts of Hayden, more than twice that amount fell.

A woman living in Hayden sent a photograph of her rain gauge to the weather service’s Spokane office, which posted it on its Facebook page. It showed 4.75 inches of rain.

National Weather Service forecaster Jon Fox said the report of 4.75 inches of rain in Hayden fits with the estimates generated by weather radar. Monday’s thunderstorm “sat” over the area without moving for quite some time, Fox said.

“This would be pretty extreme,” he said. “That’s probably a record.”

Longtime Hayden Mayor Ron McIntire has lived in the area for 45 years.

“I’ve never seen it rain like that before,” he said. “We had a little over 2 inches at our house.”

The rain didn’t cause many problems in town, McIntire said, though a low spot in the Rocking R subdivision accumulated about 4 feet of water. Landscaping bark washed into the roads in several areas.

“Usually it just runs off into the fields and the swales,” he said. “It was a lot of water.”

The weather station at the Coeur d’Alene Airport reported 2.17 inches of rain Monday. There isn’t an official National Weather Service station in Hayden, but the heaviest recorded rainfall in Coeur d’Alene was 2.15 inches on May 21, 1925, Fox said. That measurement is taken at the city’s wastewater treatment plant.

Forecasters earlier on Monday issued a flood watch and then flood warnings for parts of the region. They said the slow-moving nature of the storms allowed heavy rain to accumulate and cause flooding.

Rainfall totals varied widely. Spokane International Airport had only 0.06 inches of rain, but about an inch fell in Deer Park. St. Maries had 1.63 inches of rain, setting a record for the day. Fox said radar indicated that an area north of Nine Mile Falls might have had 5 inches or more, but there were no reports on the ground to verify it.

Two rural roads in northwest Spokane County were closed Tuesday because of damage caused by Monday night’s thunderstorms.

Spokane County officials said that portions of Hazard and Ballard roads will be closed until repairs can be made.

Spokane County Engineer Mitch Reister told county commissioners on Tuesday that Ballard is “extensively damaged” but not as bad as it was during a storm last year.

Residents living along the roads are allowed to access their homes, said Bob Keneally, maintenance and operations manager for the county.

He estimated damage at $200,000, possibly more.

At least seven other roads were damaged. One of them is Orchard Bluff Road, officials said.

The initial repair will involve shoring up and stabilizing road beds that were undercut by torrents of water running down ditches. Repaving will come later, Keneally said.