Record rain causes flooding, road closures across Thurston County into Wednesday
A deluge of rain caused the Chehalis River to swell above flood stage Tuesday and resulted in several road closures in Thurston County.
The river level crossed the 141 feet minor flood stage Tuesday evening and almost reached 142 feet, just below the moderate flood stage, by noon Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service in Seattle.
Olympia received 2.96 inches of rain between Monday and Tuesday nights, a new record, according to the NWS. That total added to the 3.77 inches of rain that fell between Friday and Monday night. Heavy rain has been battering Western Washington as a Pineapple Express, or atmospheric river, stalled over the region.
So far, 6.73 inches of rain have fallen in the five complete days of December. According to U.S. Climate Data, Olympia typically gets 7-8 inches of rain in the entire month of December.
The NWS reported lingering flooding across much of Western Washington as of Wednesday morning, but rivers were generally receding. Additional rain was expected off and on Wednesday and Thursday, but the NWS says it should not cause river levels to rise.
Still, the NWS advised that that a flood watch remained in effect through early Thursday morning. Though the heaviest rainfall has ended, the forecast indicates flood waters may continue moving down through drainages.
Thurston County officials closed several roadways due to flooding, but some had reopened by Wednesday afternoon. None of the closures had estimated times for reopening as of Wednesday afternoon. Roads remaining closed were:
- Gate Road Southwest north of Rochester from 152nd Avenue to 9434 Gate Road.
- 110th Avenue Southwest north of Littlerock from Delphi Road to Creekwood Drive.
Delphi Road Southwest was closed west of Black Lake from 62nd Avenue to McKenzie Road and reopened by about 9:15 a.m. Wednesday.
Lemon Road Northeast was closed south of the Woodard Bay Conservation Area from 46th Avenue to Woodard Bay Road and reopened by about 11:20 a.m. Wednesday.
Updates on travel impacts and concerns in Thurston County can be found on the county’s website.
In Lewis County, WSDOT sent out an alert that flooding had closed both directions of US Highway 12 between Chilcoat Avenue (milepost 115) and Kehoe Road (milepost 116), until further notice. Maintenance crews were on site as of 8:30 a.m., but there’s no estimated time for reopening the highway.
Travelers who need access on either side of the closure can follow a signed detour using Chilcoat Avenue, Silverbrook Road to Kehoe Avenue and back to US 12.
Both directions of State Route 131 between mileposts 0.4-2.0, near US 12, in Lewis County also are closed due to flooding.
This story was originally published December 6, 2023 at 9:38 AM.
