Heavy Rain in Washington, January 5 to 14, 2006

Name: Heavy Rain in Washington, January 5 to 14, 2006
Start: 2006-01-05T00:00
End: 2006-01-14T00:00
Location: Washington

January 5 to 14, 2006 · NWS SEW · 10 events in 10 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 10 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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $6.8 million
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 10

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.

The Governor declared a state of emergency after rain, at times heavy, over a period of about 10 days, caused over 7 million in damage, mainly to transportation infrastructure throughout western Washington. Mudslides closed parts of I-5 near the Pierce-Thurston county line, part of Highway 20 about a half mile east of Concrete, Highway 107 near Raymond, and Highway 166 near Port Orchard - where 3 cars crashed in the mud. In Bremerton, they totaled 16.2 inches of rainfall in 3 weeks, an amount which normally falls in 2 months. Mudslides halted Amtrak passenger train service between Everett and Olympia. In King County, there were 19 road closures from water over the roadway. Many homes had flooded basements or crawlspaces.

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 Jan 4, 9:00 PM PST, 3 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 4, 9:00 PM PST, 3 hours before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA
900 PM PST WED JAN 4 2006

.SYNOPSIS...A WARM FRONT WILL LIFT NORTH ACROSS THE REGION TONIGHT
AND THURSDAY. A TRAILING COLD FRONT WILL MOVE SLOWLY INLAND THURSDAY
NIGHT AND FRIDAY. SHOWERY AND COOLER WEATHER WILL FOLLOW FRIDAYS
FRONT AND CONTINUE THROUGH THE WEEKEND. AN ACTIVE AND STORMY PATTERN
WILL CONTINUE NEXT WEEK.

&&

.SHORT TERM...A HIGH AMPLITUDE PATTERN IS IN PLACE OVER THE WESTERN
UNITED STATES AND NORTHEAST PACIFIC...WITH THE STRONG RIDGE AXIS
EAST OF THE CASCADES AND THE UPPER TROUGH OFFSHORE AROUND 145W. A
DEEP MATURE FRONTAL SYSTEM HAS ITS SURFACE LOW NEAR 48N/136W. THE
PCPN FROM ITS STRONG WARM FRONT IS JUST CLIPPING THE NORTH COAST AND
OLYMPIC PENINSULA...WITH THE BULK OF THE PCPN MOVING INTO VANCOUVER
ISLAND. THIS SYSTEM IS PRODUCING SOLID GALES OVER THE COASTAL WATERS
AND AT THE WEST ENTRANCE TO THE STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA...BUT THERE
ISNT MUCH THREAT OF HIGH WIND OVER THE LAND AREAS.

THE MAIN BAROCLINIC BAND WILL SLOWLY WORK ITS WAY OVER WRN WA
TONIGHT AND THU MORNING. THE NEXT FRONTAL WAVE -- APPARENTLY
ROUNDING THE BASE OF THE TROUGH WAY DOWN NEAR 33N -- IS OF GREATER
CONCERN FOR WRN WA. IT WILL BRING A GOOD DOSE OF PCPN THU AFTERNOON
AND THU NIGHT...ESPECIALLY OVER THE SOUTH FACING SLOPES OF THE
OLYMPICS. THE 500 MB HEIGHTS WILL BE AROUND 564 DAM...WITH A 140 KT
JET ALOFT AND 40 TO 50 KT SOUTHERLY WINDS AT 850 MB. THIS IS A
CLASSIC HEAVY RAIN PRODUCING PATTERN...AND THE MM5 GFS DOES SHOW
ENOUGH RAIN OVER THE OLYMPICS TO DRIVE THE SKOKOMISH RIVER ABOVE
FLOOD STAGE AND POSSIBLY OTHERS AS WELL. I WILL UPDATE THE FLOOD
WATCH CURRENTLY IN EFFECT.

THE FRONTAL BAND WILL SHIFT EAST OF THE CASCADES EARLY FRI...
FOLLOWED BY AN UPPER SHORTWAVE TROUGH FRI AFTERNOON AND THEN A MINOR
RIDGE EARLY SAT.

.LONG TERM...EXTENDED DISCUSSION FROM THIS AFTERNOON...A
QUICK-MOVING COLD FRONT IS EXPECTED TO PASS FROM WEST TO EAST ACROSS
WRN WA ON SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING...ENHANCING THE SHOWER
ACTIVITY. LAPSE RATES COULD STEEPEN ENOUGH BEHIND THIS FEATURE ON
SATURDAY NIGHT TO SUPPORT THUNDER...PARTICULARLY FOR THE COAST. FROM
SUNDAY AND BEYOND...FAST ZONAL FLOW ACROSS THE NE PAC WILL CONTINUE
TO SUPPORT LOW PRESSURE CENTERS...WARM AND COLD FRONTS...FRONTAL
WAVES...AND THE LIKE EVERY 24-36 HOURS FOR MUCH OF NEXT WEEK.
HANER

&&

.AVIATION....CURRENT AVIATION FORECAST HAVE A NICE TREND DOWN AS
PRECIP COMES IN WITH THE FRONT...AROUND DAYBREAK TO KSEA. NO BIG
CHANGES EXPECTED FOR THE 06Z TAFS.

&&

.SEW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
    .HIGH SURF ADVISORY COAST.
    .GALE WARNING COAST AND WEST ENTRANCE STRAIT.
    .SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY EAST AND CENTRAL STRAIT...ADMIRALTY
        INLET...AND CAMANO ISLAND TO POINT ROBERTS.
    .SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY ROUGH BAR CONDITIONS GRAYS HARBOR BAR.

&&

.KATX...VCP21/CSR21 OPERATIONAL.

WEATHER.GOV/SEATTLE

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

10 heavy rain. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Rain, King

When: January 5, 12:00 AM PST to January 14, 12:00 AM PST
Where: King County, Countywide
Property damage: $800,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 47.491, -121.836 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Clallam

When: January 5, 12:00 AM PST to January 14, 12:00 AM PST
Where: Clallam County, Countywide
Property damage: $600,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 48.110, -123.934 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Grays Harbor

When: January 5, 12:00 AM PST to January 14, 12:00 AM PST
Where: Grays Harbor County, Countywide
Property damage: $2.9 million
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 47.144, -123.828 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Jefferson

When: January 5, 12:00 AM PST to January 14, 12:00 AM PST
Where: Jefferson County, Countywide
Property damage: $700,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 47.777, -123.574 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Kitsap

When: January 5, 12:00 AM PST to January 14, 12:00 AM PST
Where: Kitsap County, Countywide
Property damage: $700,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 47.640, -122.649 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Lewis

When: January 5, 12:00 AM PST to January 14, 12:00 AM PST
Where: Lewis County, Countywide
Property damage: $50,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 46.578, -122.392 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Mason

When: January 5, 12:00 AM PST to January 14, 12:00 AM PST
Where: Mason County, Countywide
Property damage: $700,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 47.351, -123.183 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Pierce

When: January 5, 12:00 AM PST to January 14, 12:00 AM PST
Where: Pierce County, Countywide
Property damage: $100,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 47.038, -122.137 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Skagit

When: January 5, 12:00 AM PST to January 14, 12:00 AM PST
Where: Skagit County, Countywide
Property damage: $20,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 48.482, -121.802 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Thurston

When: January 5, 12:00 AM PST to January 14, 12:00 AM PST
Where: Thurston County, Countywide
Property damage: $200,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
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 2006 Every state in 2006 This day in weather history Warnings in Washington, January 2006

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: 5486710, 5486711, 5486712, 5486713, 5486714, 5486715, 5486716, 5486717, 5486718, 5486719.