The Associated Press
PORT ANGELES — The National Weather Service issued a flood watch for several rivers in Western Washington, including some in Clallam County, as heavy rains settled over the region Monday.
The watch, in place through late tonight, means there is a potential for flooding, based on current forecasts, for portions of northwest and west central Washington, including parts of Clallam, Jefferson, Mason, King and Snohomish counties, according to the National Weather Service.
The heavy rain is from a comparatively warm, wet frontal system moving in from the Pacific Ocean.
Two to four inches of rain over the Olympics and central Cascades on Monday and Monday night were expected to cause significant rises on some area rivers, the Weather Service said.
With this weather pattern, the rivers most likely to approach flood stage are the Calawah and Bogachiel in Clallam County; the Stillaguamish, Skykomish and Snohomish in Snohomish County; and the Snoqualmie and Tolt rivers in King County.
As of Monday evening, the Calawah River near Forks was flowing at 7,110 cubic feet a second with a gauge height of 10.4 feet, according to the U.S. Geological Service monitoring station. The action stage for the river is 14.5 feet.
The Bogachiel River’s gauge height was 30.71 feet Monday evening, according to the USGS monitoring station near La Push. The National Weather Service flood stage for the Bogachiel is 37 feet.
If rain is heavier than forecast or spreads over a larger region, other rivers flowing off the Olympics could also reach flood stage.
