Flash Flood, Kittitas
- When
- July 3, 1:30 PM PST to 5:00 PM PST
- Where
- Kittitas County, Ellensburg
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 47.124, -120.680 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flash Flood in Washington, July 3, 1998
Heavy rain caused flash flooding, mud and rock slides that washed out portions of a 17 mile stretch of Highway 831 (Canyon Road) between Ellensburg and Yakima. 20 inches.
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
- None recorded
- 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 PDT wrote it up.
Heavy rain caused flash flooding, mud and rock slides that washed out portions of a 17 mile stretch of Highway 831 (Canyon Road) between Ellensburg and Yakima. Radar estimated a storm total maximum of 3.20 inches. Close to 200 people and a freight train were stranded by landslides. People were evacuated by boat on the Yakima river. One landslide went halfway across the river. A breached irrigation ditch sent water across three roads into basements and barns southeast of Ellensburg. Heavy rain also caused scattered power outages in Yakima and Ellensburg. Streets and intersections were temporarily flooded causing several traffic accidents in Yakima.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Flash Flood
- Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Flash Flood in Alabama, July 3, 1998
- Heat in Texas, July 3, 1998
- Flash Flooding and Wildfire in Washington, July 3 to 31, 1998
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Georgia, July 3 to 19, 1998
- Flash Flooding in Montana, July 3, 1998
- Tornado in Montana, July 3, 1998
- Tornado and Flash Flooding in Indiana, July 3 to 4, 1998
- Flash Flooding in Texas, July 3 to 4, 1998
- Damaging Wind in Florida, July 3, 1998
- Damaging Winds in Florida, July 3, 1998
- Lightning Strike in Kentucky, July 3, 1998
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Missouri, July 3, 1998
More
Every storm in Washington in 1998Every state in 1998This day in weather historyWarnings in Washington, July 1998
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: 5657522.