Flooding along Nooksack River expected to recede, but here’s when rain will come again

A wet and windy weekend is ahead for Whatcom County, but meteorologists said Friday that serious damage and further flooding is unlikely.

Heavy rainfall Thursday across Whatcom County caused the Nooksack River to rise sharply Friday in Ferndale and the South Fork Valley, where a flood warning was issued.

But rivers were expected to recede with a break between storms, even though more rain is on the way, said Johnny Burg, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Seattle.

“For the weekend, it’s looking to be wet for you guys,” Burg said in an interview Friday. “Saturday looks like the wettest time.”

Burg also said it will be warm and breezy Saturday and Saturday night, with south wind 20 mph or greater and gusts as high as 40 mph.

Daytime temperatures over the weekend will be in the mid-50s across the lowlands, with overnight lows around 50.

Snow was expected in the higher elevations of the North Cascades.

It’s part of a series of mild storms sweeping across Western Washington, Burg said.

Thursday rainfall at Bellingham International Airport was 1.21 inches, breaking the mark of 1.12 inches set Nov. 1 , 1985.

A remote measuring station on Lookout Mountain west of Mount Baker reported a 24-hour rainfall total of 4.2 inches Friday morning, according to the National Weather Service website.

“The river’s pretty full,” said Riley Sweeney, spokesman for the city of Ferndale. Sweeney said the city’s public works crews have been preparing sandbags in the event of flooding, and VanderYacht Park could be closed temporarily.

He said there have been no reports of serious damage, but water covered low-lying fields and roads in several locations.

“If you see water over the road, turn around and find another route,” Sweeney said. “At 6 inches, it can start lifting a car off the road.”

Photos show the river just below its banks near downtown Ferndale.

Whatcom County Public Works Department posted a list of a dozen or more road closures for minor flooding at its website Friday morning.

In the Mount Baker foothills and the South Fork Valley, water was reported over low-lying roads and fields as the river rose in Acme, Deming and other locations.

Whatcom County Fire District 14 Chief Jerry DeBruin said brisk overnight winds scattered leaves and branches across many roads in the area.

“It’s almost like driving on ice, it’s so slippery,” DeBruin said.

A family along the Nooksack’s north fork called firefighters for help when their cabin was surrounded by water, said Lt. David Moe of Fire District 14, which serves Sumas, Kendall and Welcome.

“They woke up and there was water over their driveway,” Moe said. “We borrowed a neighbor’s boat so they could get out.”

No injuries were reported, he said.

A flood warning was posted for the South Fork of the Nooksack River at the Saxon Bridge near Acme, where waters crested just below 9 feet about noon, according to NOAA’s Northwest River Forecast Center website.

Flood stage is 8 feet at that location.

Near Nugents Corner, the Nooksack was just above the flood stage of 146.5 feet about noon Friday.

Farther downstream in Ferndale, the river was above 16 feet and rising before noon Friday morning.

It was expected to crest later Friday above minor flood stage of 18 feet but below moderate flood stage of 20.5 feet, the River Forecast Center reported.

Forecast models show water levels at all locations on the Nooksack decreasing Saturday and rising Sunday to near flood stage before dropping again next week.

Burg said the weekend storm could drop a half-inch of rain Saturday and up to another inch overnight in the lowlands, but he said the flood threat would be less Sunday because most of the precipitation will fall as snow above 5,000 to 5,500 feet.

“Most of the rain that was causing problems has been dumped,” he said.

This story was originally published November 2, 2018 at 7:31 AM.