Flood watch, coastal flood advisory in effect across Whatcom
Low-lying areas across Whatcom County were inundated Tuesday with a foot or more of water as the Nooksack River spilled its banks from the Mount Baker foothills to its delta wetlands in the wake of a wet and windy storm that struck Western Washington.
More than two dozen roads were closed or at reduced lanes because of water and debris, according to the county Public Works Department website.
Forecasts call for cloudy skies with showers and temperatures in the low 50s over the next several days.
Among the major closures was Hannegan Road near Polinder Road south of Lynden.
Portions of the South Fork Valley flooded early Tuesday as the waters rose, cresting at 9 feet on the South Fork of the Nooksack at Saxon Bridge, above moderate flood stage.
Floodwaters reached a gage height of 147 feet on the Nooksack near Nugents Corner, also above moderate flood stage.
In Ferndale, the Nooksack was at 17 feet just before noon Tuesday, and the river was expected to crest Wednesday above flood stage of 18 feet — but below moderate flood stage of 20.5 feet.
A flood watch issued by the National Weather Service was set to expire at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
Earlier Tuesday, a high tide worsened by low pressure from the storm washed over roads in the coastal Semiahoo area.
Lowland flooding came in the aftermath of tropical “Pineapple Express” storm that brought warm temperatures and high winds, dumping torrents of rain on the western slopes of the North Cascades from Sunday night through early Tuesday, according to online posts from the National Weather Service.
All that water took a day to travel downstream.
According to online data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, .73 inches of rain fell from late Sunday through early Tuesday in Bellingham, 3.68 inches fell near the mountain village of Glacier, and 7.5 inches fell in the Cascades above Marblemount.
Amateur meteorologists posting online at the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network reported .91 inch of rain fell near Lynden and several foothills sites showed rainfall of 2 inches or more.
Winds peaked in Bellingham around mid-afternoon Monday at 31 mph, with a gust of 47 mph, according to weather service records.
About 1,000 Puget Sound Energy customers were without power in scattered small outages around Whatcom County as of 1:30 p.m. Monday, according to the utility company’s website.
Trees and branches were falling onto roads and power lines across the region, according to unconfirmed reports from What-Comm 911 radio dispatches.
Outside the town of Quilcene, near the Olympic National Forest, a Bellingham couple escaped injury when wind knocked over a 100-foot fir and dropped it onto their car, KOMO-TV reported.
This story was originally published November 27, 2018 at 7:44 AM.