PNW Atmospheric River Flooding

[Hydraulicjump]

Sending best to our many PNW friends outside of the rain shadow around Seattle. That is an impressive set of 2 atmospheric rivers (Cat 4’s with 5 as the most intense) with a moisture plume all the way back to the Philippines. Record and near record floods on some rivers like the Cowlitz and the Skagit are expected. For those who like to geek out on atmospheric rivers I recommend this site:

https://cw3e.ucsd.edu/media_portal/

Most of us have our boats in marinas that will just see a lot of wind and rain. But some marinas are near the mouths of rivers that will be in flood. And for the cruising community in the PNW, floods like this translate to an immense amount of debris in the water seeking to wreck your running gear. We just had a king tide which also helps liberate a lot of snags (another coming in early January). Fortunately, our community of trawlers go slow. But expect lot of trees in the water. And then the dreaded submerged root ball deadheads this spring.

Be safe. Go slow.

 

[JackConnick]

Wet this week, but windy has heck all next week solidly. Gusts to 45...

 

[Bmarler]

Yeah, the rain was relentless yesterday. My wife went for rotator surgery in the morning, had to do the wet walk back to the boat during the deluge.
Got word this morning that the land where my shop is in Chehalis is partially flooded. No water on my floor. Yet. The next wave of rain looks bad too, and headed right for my area. I’ll be loading a lot of my sensitive materials into my box truck today. Ugh…

 

[sjisailor]

I will add an obligatory warning that we don't hear often enough in the PNW in my opinion: never, ever, ever drive into running water. Stop and turn the car around to get out of there.

 

[Portage_Bay]

I will add an obligatory warning that we don't hear often enough in the PNW in my opinion: never, ever, ever drive into running water. Stop and turn the car around to get out of there.

Don't drive flooded roads. Especially if the water is moving. At a railroad underpass outside of Woodinville i saw a semi in so deep the engine was drowned. Next to it a 4x4 the only thing showing was the off road lights on the roof bar. I wish I still had the pic but it was years ago.

 

[Teaghlach]

Let's not forget the King tides pulling all that driftwood from the beaches, as well as the debris coming in from the rivers. Waterways are going to be littered with wood for a bit.

 

[JackConnick]

Holy crap.. Snoqualmie Falls at highest level in 10 years!

 

[TrailerTrash]

The Snohomish hit the highest level on record. You cannot even get to Duvall, all the roads are flooded. And wow there is a ton of logs and trees hurtling down the river.

 

[greg_c]

We had no power for a few days.... but we're not flooded. That being said, there is enough flooding to cause mandatory evacuations just a few miles from here. No school since many roads are just plain under water near here.

 

[JackConnick]

This was bizarre. Imagine running into this at night…

419K views · 24K reactions | Check out this wild video! A 100-foot, crewless “ghost boat” drifted through our Mukilteo terminal early this morning. Situations like this are not just unusual, they’re dangerous. An unlit vessel can create serious haza

Check out this wild video! A 100-foot, crewless “ghost boat” drifted through our Mukilteo terminal early this morning. Situations like this are not just unusual, they’re dangerous. An unlit vessel...

www.facebook.com

 

[greg_c]

This was bizarre. Imagine running into this at night…

419K views · 24K reactions | Check out this wild video! A 100-foot, crewless “ghost boat” drifted through our Mukilteo terminal early this morning. Situations like this are not just unusual, they’re dangerous. An unlit vessel can create serious haza

Check out this wild video! A 100-foot, crewless “ghost boat” drifted through our Mukilteo terminal early this morning. Situations like this are not just unusual, they’re dangerous. An unlit vessel...

www.facebook.com

I literally have no words. And just a few miles from the naval base.

 

[Bmarler]

This was bizarre. Imagine running into this at night…

419K views · 24K reactions | Check out this wild video! A 100-foot, crewless “ghost boat” drifted through our Mukilteo terminal early this morning. Situations like this are not just unusual, they’re dangerous. An unlit vessel can create serious haza

Check out this wild video! A 100-foot, crewless “ghost boat” drifted through our Mukilteo terminal early this morning. Situations like this are not just unusual, they’re dangerous. An unlit vessel...

www.facebook.com

That looks like that old junker that sat in the Tacoma foss waterway for years.

 

[JackConnick]

That looks like that old junker that sat in the Tacoma foss waterway for years.

Apparently floated out of the slough up in Everett...

 

[greg_c]

Apparently floated out of the slough up in Everett...

So lucky it didn't end up killing someone.

 

[Greg_Braswell]

Sending best to our many PNW friends outside of the rain shadow around Seattle. That is an impressive set of 2 atmospheric rivers (Cat 4’s with 5 as the most intense) with a moisture plume all the way back to the Philippines. Record and near record floods on some rivers like the Cowlitz and the Skagit are expected. For those who like to geek out on atmospheric rivers I recommend this site:

https://cw3e.ucsd.edu/media_portal/

Most of us have our boats in marinas that will just see a lot of wind and rain. But some marinas are near the mouths of rivers that will be in flood. And for the cruising community in the PNW, floods like this translate to an immense amount of debris in the water seeking to wreck your running gear. We just had a king tide which also helps liberate a lot of snags (another coming in early January). Fortunately, our community of trawlers go slow. But expect lot of trees in the water. And then the dreaded submerged root ball deadheads this spring.

Be safe. Go slow.

Hydraulic, you have the right user name for this observation ! Are you an engineer? I did a lot of hydraulic modeling in SF, in areas with steep hills ending on very flat areas we did a lot of thinking and measuring hydraulic jumps.