State hit by snow, freezing rain, flood threat

SEATTLE – Rain, wind, ice, sleet and snow buffeted Washington today, bringing ice storms to much of the Cascades and Eastern Washington and a threat of serious flooding in the western half of the state.

The National Weather Service issued flood warnings for the Nooksack, Satsop, Skagit, Skykomish, Snoqualmie, Stillaguamish and Tolt rivers in the Puget Sound area, and for the Bogachiel River near La Push and the Skokomish River in Mason County.

Heavy rains were forecast to continue through Wednesday in Western Washington, with up to 10 inches total for the storm in some areas. That could cause major flooding of many rivers, the weather service said.

Dramatic 24-hour rainfall totals, as of this afternoon, included 4.51 inches at Forks and 4.13 inches at Quillayute, both on the coast, 3.28 inches at Shelton, near Olympia, 2.84 inches at Bremerton and 2.06 inches at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.

Among the more serious problems anticipated:

• The Snoqualmie River, east of Seattle, was expected to reach its flood stage of 54 feet Tuesday morning and crest just under 60 feet Wednesday. At 60 feet, severe flooding can be expected from Fall City downstream through Carnation and Duvall, the weather service said.

• The Skykomish River was expected to reach flood stage of 15 feet Tuesday evening, then crest at nearly 17.8 feet early Wednesday. That could cause flooding around some farms and homes near Index and Sultan.

• The Skagit River was forecast to crest near 36 feet Wednesday morning, 8 feet above flood stage. That would cause major flooding from Rockport through Sedro Woolley, the service said.

• The Stillaguamish River was expected to crest at 17.8 feet early Wednesday, more than 3 feet above flood stage. That could flood roads near Arlington, including State Route 530, and residential areas near Silvana, Norman, Florence and Stanwood.

• The Nooksack was forecast to rise to nearly 14.2 feet, 4.2 feet above flood stage, by Tuesday night, which would cause widespread flooding from Deming through Lynden.

Interstate 90 across Snoqualmie Pass, the state's main east-west route across the Cascade Range, was closed for about six hours early today because of "very extreme" ice conditions that caused numerous blocking accidents, said state Department of Transportation spokesman Mike Westbay at Easton, just east of the pass.

There were no immediate reports of any serious accidents.

When I-90 reopened at 8:30 a.m., Washington State Patrol troopers were enforcing a requirement that chains be on all vehicles — even four-wheel drive. It was the department's most severe traction advisory, Westbay said. The restrictions were eased later in the day.

The weather service said a winter storm warning remained in effect through Tuesday afternoon for the mountains of northeast Washington and north Idaho with more snow expected in the north and freezing rain and sleet predicted for valleys closer to the Columbia Basin.

In Western Washington, another slide closed Chuckanut Drive near the Skagit-Whatcom county line. The same section of State Highway 11 was closed last week by a slide.