Rain subsided into sprinkles Monday, allowing the inundated North Olympic Peninsula rivers of Sunday to return to normal by early Monday morning.
More rain is forecast by the National Weather Service for today, but not in the amounts experienced Sunday.
Scattered showers, mainly away from the West End, are predicted for the balance of the week. The West End will continue to get a greater share of the precipitation.
The Weather Service noted that many lowland North Olympic Peninsula soils are soaked above the U.S. Geological Survey landslide index, and that some embankments and slopse might remain unstable for the balance of the week.
Brief overflows
Sunday’s gush of rain caused the Bogachiel River, Elwha River and the Dungeness River to overflow, briefly causing emergency management managers worries about the safety of people and homes.
The Duckabush River near Brinnon also looked like it might crest its banks for a while, but ultimately did not.
State Highways 112 and 110 were shut down in both directions Sunday after water covered the roadways.
Both were reopened by Monday morning, said Clallam County Undersheriff Ron Peregrin, who is in charge of emergency management for Clallam County.
“Both are reopened — they are messy, but they are open,” he said.
Peregrin added drivers should take care on roads that were flooded because debris and silt can create obstacles and slick pavement.
Ward Road near the Dungeness River north of Sequim remained closed Monday night and likely will be closed for a while, Peregrin said.
“There is about 12 inches of silt on Ward Road, so it will take a while to get that removed and then for crews to check the foundation of the road,” Peregrin said.
Railroad Bridge Park at the Dungeness River northwest of Sequim is in a similar situation, he said.
Roads remain open
Hoko-Ozette Road near Neah Bay and Dan Kelly Road southwest of Port Angeles both had mudslides, but the damage wasn’t severe enough to close either, Peregrin said.
In Forks, Russell Road had a hole on the side and remains closed, Mayor Bryon Monohon said.
Peregrin said crews were still evaluating state Highway 112 for stability.
“Out there, you have to just wait and see how it settles because you can’t always tell right off if it has compromised the foundation of the road,” he said.
According to the National Weather Service, rainfall in the area for the storm that began Saturday night:
• Port Angeles: 1.95 inches, with a record for the date set Sunday of 1.18 inches in the 24-hour period starting at 12:01 a.m.
• Forks: 4.7 inches.
• Sequim: 1.77 inches.
• Port Townsend: 1.48 inches.
• Quilcene: 2.14 inches.
Away from the North Olympic Peninsula, flood warnings remained in effect Monday night on the Skykomish, Snohomish, Snoqualmie, Chehalis, Skokomish, Satsop, Nooksack, Skagit and Stillaguamish rivers.
Most damage has been from landslides and minor flooding in valleys and in some residential and urban areas, but no deaths have been reported.
The Snohomish River northeast of Seattle was expected to cause major flooding of roads and farmlands in low-lying areas. The river was forecast to fall below flood stage this morning.
About 200 homes in an area of Kitsap County south of Bremerton were isolated when a large chunk of the only road into the remote rural area collapsed atop a culvert Sunday afternoon, the Kitsap Sun reported.
The rainfall Sunday set a record of 2.19 inches at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, breaking the record for the date set in 1966 — 1.7 inches, the National Weather Service reported.
Other records set Sunday were 1.8 inches at Olympia, 1.61 inches at Bellingham, 1.92 inches at Renton and 3.1 inches at Shelton.
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.
