Extreme Precipitation and Flooding in Whatcom County

 Extreme flooding forced by extraordinary precipitation has flooded the town of Sumas and other locales in Whatcom County.

Landslides closed I5 and some other roads, and sewage overflows are threatening some water supplies in the area.

The pictures are stunning.

Downtown Sumas was flooded this morning.



The nearby town of Everson is flooded.


And landslides closed I5 near Bellingham:


The Nooksack River achieved its all-time record river stage.

The cause of these terrible conditions is very wet autumn followed by extremely heavy rainfall over the weekend.  Let me show you.

Here are the 72 hr totals ending at 6 PM today.  A number of locations reported 8-10 inches...unbelievable... with 8.94 inches as Sumas Mountain and 9.88 inches near the international border.  Orcas Island, which is closer to the Olympic Rainshadow, got around 5 inches.


But what made this even so deadly is that most of the precipitation fell in a 24-h period on Sunday (midnight to midnight).   This is shown below for the Sumas Mountain observing site.  Around 7 inches in 24 hours.  Wow.


I am happy to report that weather forecast models accurately predicted this torrential rain, something shown by the forecast of accumulated rain made on Friday at 4 AM for the total through 4 AM Monday.  Not bad.   Pretty impressive rainshadow to the NE of the Olympics.


You see the yellow colors....those are the heaviest amounts.

We are going to dry out during the next several days, but the damage has been done.

We are now "enjoying" the wettest autumn on record for many locations in western Washington...but that "honor" should be lost with the dry period ahead.  But the ground is saturated throughout the region, and the WA State DNR's landslide warning system has areas of concern, particularly Whatcom County and along the coast (the other area with lots of rain).


Winds

And yes, we had strong winds today with the intense front, with gusts reaching 50-65 miles per hour in places.  Whidbey Island is essentially blacked out, with large outages in the South Sound and elsewhere (see below)


We knew all this was coming..... the big question is how society can learn to use the increasing weather forecasting prowess to protect life and property.

I have said this many times, but it bears repeating: the first line of defense against extreme weather is excellent weather prediction, which should allow us to prevent most loss of life and injury and reduce economic damage. 

Deaths from extreme weather are plummeting around the world and better forecasting is one of the reasons.  You would not know that from what you read in the Seattle Times and many other media sources, which play up extreme weather as an apocalyptic threat to the existence of humanity.

Announcement:

I will be doing a book signing and dinner event at Ivar's Salmon House in Seattle on Wednesday, November 17th (6 PM).  You can come just to purchase a book and get it personalized or you can stay for a special dinner, where I will be giving a weather talk.   More information on the event is found here.  You need to make reservations for the dinner (only 80 spaces available). And information about the new edition of my book is here.

Only about 10 spots are left, so if you want to go, reserve a place soon.



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