Heavy Rain, Grays Harbor
- When
- March 15, 4:00 AM PST to March 19, 4:00 PM PST
- Where
- Grays Harbor County, Montesano
- Property damage
- $1.2 million
- Coordinates
- 47.144, -123.828 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Rain in Washington, March 15 to 19, 1997
03 inches at Forks. Montesano had 9 inches in the 24 hr period ending at 8 am on the 19th.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $1.2 million
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 1
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
What happened
The episode as NWS SEW wrote it up.
Along the coast 5 day rainfall totals from the 15th to the 19th ranged from 6.18 inches at Hoquiam to 12.03 inches at Forks. Montesano had 9 inches in the 24 hr period ending at 8 am on the 19th. Nearly 300 people were evacuated from their homes with damage to about 380 structures in Grays Harbor County. Grays Harbor was one of 10 counties that were in a state of emergency. 13 county roads were closed, including a stretch of Highway 101 that had never flooded before. The number of houses damaged by flooding or mudsides over the 5 day period was nearly 300 with 10 destroyed. Some people had nearly 5 ft of water in their homes.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 heavy rain. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Heavy Rain
- Rainfall totals unusual for the place and season that did not produce a flood.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Cold in North Carolina, March 15, 1997
- Heavy Rain in Washington, March 15 to 19, 1997
- Flooding in Minnesota, March 15 to 31, 1997
- Heavy Snow in New York, March 15 to 16, 1997
- High Wind in Alaska, March 15 to 18, 1997
- Flooding in Louisiana, March 15 to 24, 1997
- Heavy Snow in Montana, March 15, 1997
- Heavy Snow in Idaho, March 15, 1997
- Heavy Snow in Washington, March 15, 1997
- Flood in Ohio, March 15, 1997
- Heavy Snow in New York, March 15 to 17, 1997
- High Wind in Oregon, March 15, 1997
More
Every storm in Washington in 1997Every state in 1997This day in weather historyWarnings in Washington, March 1997
Sources
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5596627.