Heavy Rain in Washington, November 13 to 15, 2001

Name: Heavy Rain in Washington, November 13 to 15, 2001
Start: 2001-11-13T19:00
End: 2001-11-15T19:00
Location: Washington

November 13 to 15, 2001 · NWS SEW · 8 events in 8 counties and zones

Heavy rain caused several mudslides which closed several roads across western Washington. In a 48 hour period 3-5 inches of rain fell in the interior with 4-8 inches along the coast.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 8 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

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 8

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.

Heavy rain caused several mudslides which closed several roads across western Washington. In a 48 hour period 3-5 inches of rain fell in the interior with 4-8 inches along the coast. Several sites set records for rainfall on Wed Nov 14th - from midnight to midnight, Olympia received 3.64 inches while Seatac got 2.61 inches. Several buildings were flooded and small mudslides flowed over a few homeowners property, but no significant damage was reported.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Seattle, WA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Nov 13, 2:45 PM PST, 4 hours 15 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Nov 13, 2:45 PM PST, 4 hours 15 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA
245 PM PST TUE NOV 13 2001

.SYNOPSIS...A STRONG PACIFIC FRONTAL SYSTEM WILL MOVE ACROSS WESTERN
WASHINGTON TONIGHT...FOLLOWED BY ANOTHER WARM FRONT ON WEDNESDAY. A
STRONGER COLD FRONT WILL AFFECT THE AREA LATE WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND
THURSDAY MORNING. SHOWERY POST-FRONT WEATHER WILL CONTINUE THURSDAY
AFTERNOON THROUGH FRIDAY. DRY WEATHER WILL RETURN SATURDAY AND SUNDAY
AS AN UPPER LEVEL RIDGE BUILDS OVER THE AREA.

.DISCUSSION...12Z ETA/18Z AVN ARE IN GOOD AGREEMENT THOUGH 60 HRS. WL
FOLLOW AVN FOR CONTINUITY. GOOD SOLID WLY 150+ KT JETSTREAM IS
DRIVING THIS PERIOD OF WET/WINDY WEATHER. WRMFNT GOING THRU AREA THIS
EVENING AS STRONG VORT MAX MOVS INTO VRISL. VERY WINDY N INTR/CST
ATTM BUT BELOW HIGH WIND CRITERIA. BLI-YZT GRAD AT 14.3 MB.

2ND WRMFNT MOVS NWD INTO W WA WED MORNING AND ACRS PGTSND ARND 00Z
DURG AFTN. PCPN THRU 00Z COULD BE HEAVY ENOUGH FOR MINOR FLOOD
EPISODE ON SOME CNTRL PGTSND RIVERS...THUS FLOOD WATCH IN EFFECT.

OTHER MAIN PROBLEM IS APCHG CDFNT LATE WED NIGHT...AS STG 978 MB LOW
HEAD NE AND CROSSES N VRISL 12Z THU. SE GRADIENT IS QUITE STRONG WITH
18.3 MB BLI-YZT FCST BY ETA AND 16.9 BY AVN. WL ISSUE HIGH WIND WATCH
FOR CST...N INTR...AND N KITSAP PENINSULA FOR WED NIGHT/EARLY THU.
STILL UNCERTAIN WHERE STRONGEST WINDS OVR N INTR WL OCCUR. MESO-ETA
SHOWS A LEE LOW FORMING OVR PT TOWNSEND WITH MAIN WINDS OVR HOOD
CANAL. MM5 PUTS BEST GRADIENT FM WHIDBEY ISL THRU SAN JUANS.

CDFNT SLIDES THRU PGTSND MIDDAY THU...BUT LOOKS LIKE A TRAILING WAVE
HOLD PCPN IN THRU THE DAY. POST FRONTAL SHOWERS CONT INTO FRI EVENING
WITH FINAL UPR TROF AXIS SLIDING THRU PGTSND 06Z SAT.

.EXTENDED...ALL MDLS SHOW AN UPR RDG OVER THE AREA SAT/SUN...SO WL
CONT DRY FCST. OFSHR FLOW LOOKS GOOD SO WILL INCLUDE SUNSHINE IN FCST
AS WELL AS AREAS FOG. UPR TROF RETURNS TO NE PAC MON/TUE WITH PDS
RAIN FOR NW WA. KAM
UIL ++++  SEA ++99  OLM ++99

.SEW...GALE WARNING COAST...ENTRANCES STRAIT JDF...ADMIRALTY INLET...
         AND CAMANO ISLAND TO PT ROBERTS.
      .SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY PUGET SOUND AND HOOD CANAL.
      .HIGH WIND WATCH NORTH/CENTRAL COAST...NORTH INTERIOR...NORTH
        KITSAP PENINSULA.
.KATX...VCP21/CSR21...OPERATIONAL.

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

8 heavy rain. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Rain, Grays Harbor

When: November 13, 7:00 PM PST to November 15, 7:00 PM PST
Where: Grays Harbor County, Countywide
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 47.144, -123.828 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Jefferson

When: November 13, 7:00 PM PST to November 15, 7:00 PM PST
Where: Jefferson County, Countywide
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 47.777, -123.574 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, King

When: November 13, 7:00 PM PST to November 15, 7:00 PM PST
Where: King County, Countywide
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 47.491, -121.836 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Kitsap

When: November 13, 7:00 PM PST to November 15, 7:00 PM PST
Where: Kitsap County, Countywide
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 47.640, -122.649 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Mason

When: November 13, 7:00 PM PST to November 15, 7:00 PM PST
Where: Mason County, Countywide
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 47.351, -123.183 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Pierce

When: November 13, 7:00 PM PST to November 15, 7:00 PM PST
Where: Pierce County, Countywide
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 47.038, -122.137 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Snohomish

When: November 13, 7:00 PM PST to November 15, 7:00 PM PST
Where: Snohomish County, Countywide
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 48.046, -121.722 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Thurston

When: November 13, 7:00 PM PST to November 15, 7:00 PM PST
Where: Thurston County, Countywide
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 46.930, -122.832 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

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

Every storm in Washington in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in Washington, November 2001

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: 5273017, 5273018, 5273019, 5273020, 5273021, 5273022, 5273023, 5273024.