Storms a-brewing

From the County and National Weather Service: There are a pair of strong late season Pacific storm systems that will move into the Pacific NW. The first will move onshore tonight and Wednesday that will primarily produce seasonably heavy rainfall amounts.  This storm has tapped into sub-tropical moisture – see this link . This system also has some characteristics of a strong winter storm that may produce localized rural and urban street flooding and sharp rises on smaller creeks, rivers and streams. Winds with this system will likely peak in the 20 to 30 mph range primarily along the coast and north interior.

The following weather system is due to arrive on Friday. Per the moisture plume in the link above, it too will offer another surge of heavy rainfall amounts, but since it is moving faster will not have an extended period of rainfall in comparison to the system spreading moisture onshore tonight. Yet, it has the possibility of stronger winds (gusts to 35 mph on coast and 20 to 30 mph in the interior).

We want to bring attention to these storms for several reasons listed below:

(1) Unusual storm for springtime (winter-like characteristics)

(2) Heavy rainfall potential (1.5 to 3 inches in the Olympics/Cascade volcanoes, 0.5 to 1.5 inches lowlands)

(3) The ground is saturated from recent rains

(4) Reservoir systems are full

(5) Rivers, creeks and streams already running higher than normal. (No flooding is expected along the Green river)

(6) Combination of relatively high freezing levels and heavy rainfall will produce unstable conditions on the Cascade volcanoes resulting in a good likelihood of dangerous conditions at higher elevations – avoid climbing during this period