Debris Flow and Flood in Washington, October 20, 2003

A very deep plume of Pacific moisture impacted the Cascade Mountains beginning on the 19th of October. By the evening of the 20th, two to three inches of rain had fallen over the east slopes of the Cascades. The heavy rains produced the worst flood on record along the Stehekin River near the town of Stehekin. While there is no official flood stage on the Stehekin River, the river rose 13 feet by early morning October 21st. Four homes were lost and 10 to 20 were damaged. The flood extensively damaged the park infrastructure of the Lake Chelan National Recreation Area. Hundreds of trees were washed down the river valley and deposited in the northern reaches of Lake Chelan. The village of Holden, in the mountains south of Lake Chelan, suffered damage as a result of mud slides and swollen feeder streams. Elsewhere on the east slopes of the Cascades, three mud slides cut Highway 20 between Varden Creek and Washington Pass. The largest slide covered the road with a 100 foot wide stretch of 6 foot deep mud and rocks.