19 feet, major flood, on Nov. |It is the highest the river has reached since the Elwha and Glines Canyon dams were removed, and the seventh highest crest recorded.
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
The episode as NWS SEW wrote it up.
The Elwha River flexed its new muscles during the most recent round of storms and severely damaged Olympic Hot Springs Road and effectively buried a campground in silt.|The river rose to 23.19 feet, major flood, on Nov. 17 during a heavy rainstorm that produced 5.6 inches of rain on that date in the Elwha watershed.|When the water receded, Olympic National Park officials discovered the water had washed out a 60-foot-long section of Olympic Hot Springs Road, and much of Elwha Campground had nearly disappeared under more than a foot of silt and debris.|It is the highest the river has reached since the Elwha and Glines Canyon dams were removed, and the seventh highest crest recorded.
The Stillaguamish near Arlington was at major flood stage, and prompted a shutdown of SR 530 east of the city. Sections of US 101 near Port Angeles and US 2 Gold Bar-Skykomish were closed due fallen trees and water over the road.|At the Sultan fire station, employees moved fire trucks as flood water inched closer.|On Main Street, the water rose so quickly that one woman's only option was to escape out her front window.|Heavy rain swelled a creek which kept a 15 mile stretch of US highway 2 closed after finding that the storm-fed creek had undermined the bridge foundation.
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, 10:01 PM PST, 1 hour 59 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA
1001 PM PST FRI NOV 13 2015
.SYNOPSIS...A STATIONARY FRONT WILL REMAIN OVER THE SOUTHEAST
PART OF THE AREA OVERNIGHT. THIS FRONT WILL LIFT NORTH SATURDAY AS
A STRONGER FRONTAL SYSTEM APPROACHES FROM THE SOUTHWEST. LOOK FOR
A STRONG COLD FRONT TO SWEEP ACROSS THE REGION LATE SATURDAY NIGHT
AND USHER IN A MUCH COLDER AIR MASS. LOW PRESSURE ALOFT WILL MOVE
OVER THE AREA ON SUNDAY. A WARM FRONT WILL APPROACH THE REGION ON
MONDAY.
&&
.SHORT TERM...
RAIN RATES HAVE DROPPED OFF SIGNIFICANTLY SINCE LATE THIS
AFTERNOON...WITH MOST PLACES RECORDING A TENTH OF AN INCH OR LESS
IN THE HOUR ENDING AT 9 PM PST. THE SATELLITE-DERIVED BLENDED
TOTAL PRECIPITABLE WATER /TPW/ SHOWED THE PLUME OF HIGHEST TPW HAD
SHIFTED MOSTLY SOUTH OF THE AREA...HOWEVER THE TPW VALUES WERE
STILL 150 TO 200 PERCENT OF NORMAL OVER THE AREA.
A STATIONARY FRONT WILL REMAIN DRAPED ACROSS THE SOUTHEAST PART
OF THE CWA BEFORE LIFTING NORTH SATURDAY IN RESPONSE TO A WAVE
DEVELOPING OFF THE OREGON COAST AND ALONG THE FRONTAL BOUNDARY.
THIS NEW SURFACE LOW WILL CAUSE THE PRECIPITATION BAND TO BECOME
ORIENTED MORE NORTH TO SOUTH BY LATE IN THE DAY SATURDAY.
THEREFORE...EXPECT THE FOCUS OF THE HEAVIEST PRECIP TO SHIFT FROM
THE SOUTHEAST PART OF THE CWA TO THE NORTHWEST PART OF THE CWA BY
LATE SATURDAY AFTERNOON.
THE SNOW LEVELS WILL FALL TO NEAR 4500 FEET IN THE OLYMPICS AND
4500 TO 5000 FEET OVER THE NORTH CASCADES ON SATURDAY PER THE
LATEST GFS SOLUTION. THE SNOW LEVELS WILL LIKELY BRIEFLY RISE BACK
UP INTO THE 6000-6500 FOOT RANGE OVER THE NORTH CASCADES SATURDAY
EVENING BEFORE PLUMMETING TO NEAR 2500 FEET BY MIDMORNING SUNDAY.
NOTE THAT THE 1200 UTC ECMWF SOLUTION WAS COLDER THAN THE GFS
SOLUTION...SO IT WILL BE INTERESTING TO SEE WHAT THE 0000 UTC
CYCLE SHOWS.
AT ANY RATE...THE WINTER STORM WATCH FOR THE OLYMPICS STILL LOOKS
REASONABLE. IT LOOKS LIKE THE PRECIP RATES WILL PICK UP IN EARNEST
HERE SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND CONTINUE THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT
BEFORE QUICKLY WINDING DOWN SUNDAY MORNING. THE COURSER RESOLUTION
GFS INDICATED THAT HURRICANE RIDGE COULD RECEIVE 2-3 FEET OF SNOW
BY LATE SUNDAY MORNING...WHICH DOES NOT HAPPEN VERY OFTEN FOR THIS
SITE. WILL BE INTERESTED TO SEE WHAT THE LATEST HIGHER RESOLUTION
WRF-GFS MESOSCALE MODEL SHOWS FOR THIS AREA.
BASED ON THE LATEST GFS SOLUTION...NOT AS CONFIDENT THAT THE
NORTH CASCADES WILL RECEIVE SNOWFALL AMOUNTS MEETING WARNING
CRITERION DUE TO THE LOWER PRECIP AMOUNTS AND HIGHER SNOW LEVELS
BEING FORECAST FOR THIS AREA. THE WATCH TIMING FOR THIS AREA MAY
NEED TO BE ADJUSTED FOR SATURDAY NIGHT THRU MIDDAY SUNDAY...
REPLACING THE WATCH WITH A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR DAYTIME
SATURDAY.
THE COLD FRONT WILL EXIT THE AREA EARLY SUNDAY MORNING AND THE
COLD UPPER LEVEL TROF WILL SETTLE OVER THE REGION SUNDAY
AFTERNOON. A PUGET SOUND CONVERGENCE ZONE /PSCZ/ IS ANTICIPATED
TO DEVELOP IN THE WAKE OF THE FRONT AND PERSIST THRU SUNDAY
EVENING BEFORE DISSIPATING. WILL PROBABLY SEE A LARGE AMOUNT OF
SMALL HAIL OR GRAUPEL WITH THE HEAVIER SHOWERS WITHIN THE PSCZ.
ANOTHER SYSTEM WILL IMPACT THE REGION ON MON. A WARM FRONT WILL
APPROACH THE AREA FOR AN INCREASING THREAT OF PRECIP.
.LONG TERM...
THE MEDIUM RANGE SOLUTIONS WERE NOT IN VERY GOOD AGREEMENT
CONCERNING THE DETAILS OF THE SYSTEM THAT WILL IMPACT THE REGION
ON TUE. THE ECMWF WAS COLDER AND ESSENTIALLY INDICATED SIGNIFICANT
SNOWFALL /AS IN FEET/ ON THE WEST SLOPES OF THE OLYMPICS AND
CASCADES. THE GFS WAS WARMER AND CONSEQUENTLY INDICATED THE
POTENTIAL FOR MORE FLOODING ON AREA RIVERS. AT A MINIMUM...IT
APPEARED THAT IT WILL BE WINDY AT A NUMBER OF PLACES ON TUE BASED
ON THE MODEL SOLUTIONS.
NEXT WEDNESDAY...A DEEPENING SFC LOW WILL TRACK E-SE ACROSS THE
SRN INTERIOR OF BRITISH COLUMBIA...DRAGGING AN ENERGETIC COLD
FRONT ACROSS WESTERN WA. ANOTHER ROUND OF HEAVY /BUT OF SHORT
DURATION RAIN/ IS FORECAST...FOLLOWED BY A QUICK DROP OF THE
SNOW LEVELS. 850 MB TEMPS WILL DROP FROM +6C TO ABOUT -4C IN
THE 12 HOURS FOLLOWING THE FRONT. BOTH THE GFS AND ECMWF SHOWED
THE AIR MASS COOLING AND DRYING QUITE A BIT NEXT THU AND FRI...
WITH THE 12Z ECMWF BUILDING A RESPECTABLE SURFACE HIGH INTO THE
INTERIOR OF BRITISH COLUMBIA AND INITIATING SOME FRASER OUTFLOW
ON DAY 7. HANER/05
&&
.AVIATION...WEST FLOW ALOFT WILL BECOME SOUTHWEST ON SATURDAY. A
FRONT JUST TO THE SOUTH OF THE FORECAST AREA WILL SHIFT NORTH OVER
THE AREA ON SATURDAY. AIR MASS MOIST AND STABLE.
KSEA...LOW CLOUDS WILL CONTINUE TONIGHT AND SATURDAY. VISIBILITIES
WILL LIKELY BE REDUCED AT TIMES ON SATURDAY AS RAIN REDEVELOPS.
SOUTHERLY WIND 5-10 KNOTS.
NORTHERLY WINDS WHICH HAVE PUSHED DOWN INTO NORTH KING COUNTY
THIS EVENING ARE NOT EXPECTED TO MAKE IT TO THE TERMINAL BUT THEY
COULD GET CLOSE FOR A FEW HOURS. SCHNEIDER
&&
.MARINE...A FRONT JUST SOUTH OF THE WATERS WILL SHIFT NORTH
TODAY...THEN PUSH INLAND SUNDAY. LONG PERIOD WEST SWELL 18-21
FEET OVER THE COASTAL WATERS WILL SUBSIDE ON SATURDAY.
A 994 MB SURFACE LOW WILL MOVE ONSHORE OVER SOUTHWEST WASHINGTON
SUNDAY MORNING. GALES FORCE NORTHERLY WINDS ARE POSSIBLE LATER
SATURDAY NIGHT FOR THE COASTAL AS THE LOW PASSES TO THE SOUTH.
THE SOUTHERN ZONES CLOSER TO THE LOW ARE MOST LIKELY TO SEE GALES.
STRONG ONSHORE FLOW BEHIND THE LOW ON SUNDAY WILL LIKELY PRODUCE
GALE FORCE WEST WINDS IN THE STRAIT...AND POSSIBLY FOR OTHER
INLAND WATERS.
ADDITIONAL VIGOROUS FRONTAL SYSTEMS WILL AFFECT THE WATERS LATER
MONDAY AND WEDNESDAY. SCHNEIDER
&&
.HYDROLOGY...
RAIN...HEAVY AT TIMES...WILL CONTINUE OVER THE CASCADES FROM
SNOHOMISH COUNTY SOUTHWARD THIS EVENING THEN TAPER OFF DURING THE
EARLY MORNING HOURS ON SATURDAY. RAINFALL IN THE LAST SIX HOURS
ENDING AT 8 PM THIS EVENING OVER THE CASCADES RANGED FROM ABOUT
0.50 INCHES TO 1.50 INCHES WITH THE HEAVIEST RAIN BETWEEN STEVENS
AND SNOQUALMIE PASS AND NEAR MOUNT RAINIER. FLOOD WARNINGS ARE UP
FOR ALL OF THE MAIN STEM RIVERS BETWEEN THE SKAGIT AND SNOQUALMIE
RIVERS AS WELL AS MOST OF THE RIVERS FLOWING OFF THE SOUTHERN
PORTION OF THE OLYMPICS. RIVERS THAT COULD BE ADDED TO THE FLOOD
WARNING LIST OVERNIGHT INCLUDE THE PUYALLUP NEAR ORTING AND THE
CARBON NEAR FAIRFAX. RAINFALL RATES WILL DECREASE OVER THE
CASCADES ON SATURDAY WITH ALL EXCEPT FOR THE LOWER REACHES OF A
FEW RIVERS CRESTING.
THE NEXT RAINFALL EVENT OF ANY CONCERN COMES ON MONDAY. RAINFALL
AMOUNTS OVER THE OLYMPICS AND CASCADES WILL RANGE FROM ABOUT 3 TO
5 INCHES IN 24 HOURS. THIS MAY RENEW FLOODING ON THE FLOOD-PRONE
SKOKOMISH RIVER...AND IT SHOULD SLOW OR BRIEFLY REVERSE FALLS ON
OTHER AREA RIVERS.
THE COLD FRONT NEXT WEDNESDAY ALSO LOOKS LIKE IT WILL HAVE A PERIOD
OF HEAVY RAIN WITH IT...BUT THE DURATION APPEARS TO BE TOO SHORT FOR
FLOODING CONCERNS. SNOW LEVELS WILL FALL QUICKLY BEHIND WEDNESDAY'S
FRONT...WHICH IS ANOTHER INHIBITING FACTOR WHEN CONSIDERING FLOOD
POTENTIAL. FELTON/HANER
&&
.SEW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
WA...HIGH SURF ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL NOON SATURDAY FOR THE
COAST.
WINTER STORM WATCHES ARE IN EFFECT FOR THE NORTH CASCADES
AND OLYMPICS BEGINNING SATURDAY MORNING.
FLOOD WARNINGS/WATCHES ARE IN EFFECT FOR MUCH OF THE CWA.
PZ...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR HAZARDOUS SEAS ARE IN EFFECT FOR
THE COASTAL WATERS AND WEST ENTRANCE TO THE STRAIT OF
JUAN DE FUCA.
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR ROUGH BAR IN EFFECT UNTIL 4 AM
SUNDAY FOR THE GRAYS HARBOR BAR.
GALE WATCHES ARE IN EFFECT FROM SATURDAY EVENING THROUGH
SUNDAY MORNING FOR THE COASTAL WATERS.
&&
WWW.WEATHER.GOV/SEATTLE
AN ILLUSTRATED VERSION OF THIS FORECAST DISCUSSION CAN BE SEEN AT
WWW.WEATHER.GOV/SEATTLE/GAFD/LATEST_WEBAFD.HTMLThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
4 flood, 1 heavy rain. Local standard time, as filed.
Flooding from the Hoh river damaged Oil City road.
Heavy rain swelled a creek that undermined the foundation of a US Hwy 2 bridge outside of Skykomish, closing a 15-mile stretch of the highway for about a week.
The Skykomish River in Snohomish County near Gold Bar crested at its third highest level on record, over 7 feet above flood stage, the highest level since the record-setting November 2006 flood. Flood waters swamped the town of Sultan, about six miles downstream from Gold Bar, prompting rescue of one woman forced to climb out her home's front window.
The Elwha River flexed its new muscles during the most recent round of storms and severely damaged Olympic Hot Springs Road and effectively buried a campground in silt.
Flooding on Mineral Creek damaged a segment of the Mount Rainier Scenic Railroad.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Washington in 2015Every state in 2015This day in weather historyWarnings in Washington, November 2015
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: 609290, 608921, 607347, 608920, 609292.