Lewis County Sirens.com

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Update: The forecasts for some river levels were increased again at 11:12 p.m., except for the Cowlitz below the Mayfield dam which was decreased. Check them here

The National Weather Service has issued flood warnings now for the Cowlitz River at Packwood, Randle, and below Mayfield Dam.

A flood warning means that flooding is imminent or has been reported.

Major flooding is possible on the Cowlitz, the weather service reported at 8:38 p.m. tonight.

The weather service describes that as rising above flood stage at Randle around 7 a.m. tomorrow and cresting at 23.2 feet about 10 a.m. on Monday.

At 22 feet, the river will cause major flooding from Randle and downstream through Riffe Lake, and what the weather service calls dangerous inundation of many roads including U.S. Highway 12, residential, commercial areas and farms. Flooding can be expected along the river, its headwaters, tributaries and other streams within and near the Cowlitz River Basin.

In Packwood, moderate flooding is expected.

Below Mayfield dam, minor flooding is expected. Flood waters will inundate some farmlands and several roads, mainly near Toledo, according to the weather service.

Moderate flooding is also expected on the Nisqually River near National.

A flood warning has also been issued tonight for urban areas and small streams in Lewis, Mason, Thurston and eastern Grays Harbor counties until 2 p.m. Sunday.

Expect widespread flooding of small streams to begin late tonight, the weather service reports.
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Scroll down to see what Randle area Fire Chief Jeff Jaques expects at 22 feet.
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Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 15th, 2011 at 11:09 pm and is filed under Top story of the day. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.