Threat of flooding continues for the Olympic Peninsula and there is an increase threat of landslides in Western Washington
A storm system will impact western Washington Wednesday night into Saturday with periods of moderate to heavy rain and moderately high snow levels. The region that will get the most rain is the Olympic Peninsula. This storm period will bring up to 5 to 8+ inches of rain to the Olympics with snow levels in the 5000 to 7000 foot range, so that much of the area will see rain instead of snow. Rivers are running average to above average and soil moisture is relatively high.
All this together will possibly drive the rivers off the Olympics to above flood stage, with the exception of the north facing drainages. The fact that this amount of rain will fall over 48 to 72 hours will diminish somewhat how high the rivers go. This will affect the Counties of Mason, Grays Harbor, and Jefferson.
Also, periodic rainfall over the last few days and few weeks has increased soil moisture to moderate levels across western Washington. Heavy rainfall of one to three inches over the lowlands and foothills and 5 to 8 inches over the Olympics is expected Thursday through Saturday. This amount of rain will raise the soil moisture to high levels and put extra pressure on soil instability, leading to an increased threat of landslides during that period.