The rain-swollen Elwha River flows past the closed Olympic National Park gates on Olympic Hot Springs Road on Sunday morning. The road near Elwha Campground was flooded Saturday and remained closed Sunday for Olympic National Park officials to check the road condition and safety. Arwyn Rice/Peninsula Daily News

The rain-swollen Elwha River flows past the closed Olympic National Park gates on Olympic Hot Springs Road on Sunday morning. The road near Elwha Campground was flooded Saturday and remained closed Sunday for Olympic National Park officials to check the road condition and safety. Arwyn Rice/Peninsula Daily News

Season’s first major storm frosts peaks and drenches river valleys on North Olympic Peninsula

PORT ANGELES — The North Olympic Peninsula’s first major storm of the fall season left behind snow in the mountains and soggy conditions in the lowlands Sunday, but stopped short of serious flooding.

Neither the Jefferson nor Clallam county sheriff’s offices reported any serious incidents relating to weather as of Sunday afternoon.

Two of Olympic National Park’s popular areas were closed Sunday due to the weekend rainfall.

ADVERTISEMENT
0 seconds of 0 secondsVolume 0%
Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcuts
00:00
00:00
00:00
 

Hurricane Ridge Road was closed due to snow Sunday — the first storm closure of the 2015-16 winter season — and Olympic Hot Springs Road remained closed due to flooding that first shut the roadway Saturday.

The snow level dropped to 4,000 feet and there were “increasingly hazardous winter storm conditions” on Hurricane Ridge Road, according to the Olympic National Park road conditions hotline.

The road was closed at the Heart O’ the Hills entrance station.

The Olympic National Park Visitor Center at 3002 Mount Angeles Road in Port Angeles remained open.

The National Weather Service had issued a winter storm warning in effect through 11 a.m. today, specifically for the Olympic Mountains. Hurricane Ridge was forecast to receive as much as 6 inches of snow.

Pacific Coast portions of the park were under high surf and wind advisories, and visitors were cautioned to watch for falling branches and trees.

Olympic Hot Springs Road west of Port Angeles remained closed at the Madison Falls trailhead parking lot due to flooding in the Elwha Campground area.

The Elwha River never reached flood stage, despite the flooding in the campground area, according to U.S. Geological Survey website data.

The highest level the river reached during the storm was 18.65 feet at 11:30 p.m. Saturday.

Flood stage for the Elwha River is 20 feet.

The Bogachiel River on the West End nearly reached flood stage during the storm, topping out at 36.53 feet at 2 p.m. Saturday, as measured at the LaPush river gage.

Flood stage for the Bogachiel River is 37 feet.

All other rivers in the region ran high Saturday but did not approach flood stage, and river levels fell as rainfall tapered off Sunday.

The rainfall that started late Friday and was expected to continue through Tuesday is “one big storm,” said Danny Mercer, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Seattle.

The storm is complex with multiple parts that affected, and will affect, the region differently, Mercer said.

It was led by a warm front, which dropped heavy rain on the region Saturday, followed by the cold front, which produced snow above 4,000 feet Sunday, he said.

Mercer said trailing portions of the storm will produce fog, occasional rain showers in the lowlands and snow showers in the mountains through Tuesday.

The storm was typical for autumn in the Pacific Northwest, with Nov. 1 opening the door for the wettest part of the year, he said.

“It’s right on track,” he said.

________

Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arice@peninsuladailynews.com.

More in News

Fred Lundahl, a pilot from Whidbey Island, prepares to fuel up his 1968 Cessna Aerobat, named Scarlett, at the Jefferson County International Airport in Port Townsend. Lundahl was picking up his plane Wednesday from Tailspin Tommy’s Aircraft Repair facility located at the airport. (Steve Mullensky/for Peninsula Daily News)
Fueling up

Fred Lundahl, a pilot from Whidbey Island, prepares to fuel up his… Continue reading

After hours pet clinic set for Peninsula

Opening June 6 at Sequim location

Five to be honored with community service awards

Ceremony set Thursday at Port Angeles Senior Community Center

PASD planning for expanding needs

Special education, homelessness, new facilities under discussion

Clallam County Sheriff’s Office Animal Control Deputy Ed Bauck
Clallam Sheriff appoints animal control deputy

Position was vacant since end of 2024

Highway 104 road work to start week

Maintenance crews will repair road surfaces on state Highway… Continue reading

Supreme Court says no to recall reconsider

Sequim man found liable for legal fees

Chimacum Ridge seeks board members

Members to write policy, balance values, chair says

Fire destroys shop east of Port Angeles

A fire on Hickory Street east of Port Angeles… Continue reading

Jefferson Transit Authority to expand Kingston Express route

Jefferson Transit Authority has announced expanded service on its… Continue reading

From left to right, Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding students Krystol Pasecznyk and Scott McNair sand a Prothero Sloop with Sean Koomen, the school’s boat building program director. Koomen said the sanding would take one person a few days. He said the plan is to have 12 people sand it together, which will take a few hours. (Elijah Sussman/Peninsula Daily News)
Wooden boatbuilding school building ‘Twin Boats’

Students using traditional and cold-moulding construction techniques