Rains, slides disrupt traffic, cause flooding; wind cuts power

Published 1:30 am Friday, February 10, 2017

EVERETT — Steady rain soaked streets, swelled streams and disrupted commuter trains in south Snohomish County on Thursday. Rains tapered by afternoon, then winds picked up, knocking over trees and causing scattered outages.

Water filled a holding lane for the ferry in Edmonds on Thursday morning. Portions of 44th Avenue W and Ash Way in Lynnwood also spent time underwater early in the day.

“We have puddles all over the place like everyone else today,” Edmonds public works director Phil Williams said.

A mudslide hit the BNSF Railway tracks along Puget Sound in north Seattle around 1 p.m., canceling Sounder train service for the rest of the work week. Crews expected to clear rock, mud and a 30-foot-tall tree from the tracks by evening, railroad spokesman Gus Melonas said. Freight trains could resume after that, but passenger trains weren’t expected to return until early Saturday afternoon.

Downed trees closed Mukilteo Boulevard in Everett for hours and knocked out power nearby, Everett Fire Chief Eric Hicks said.

A tree fell on a house in the 3100 block of 176th Street SW in Lynnwood. The home was occupied, but no one was injured, Lynnwood police posted on Twitter.

The National Weather Service issued a wind advisory for the Everett area until 6 p.m. Thursday. Winds of up to 35 mph and gusts up to 50 mph were forecast from Friday morning through the afternoon.

Snohomish County PUD crews responded to numerous outages from fallen trees and limbs. About 5,000 customers were cut off at the peak Thursday, utility spokesman Neil Neroutsos said. Affected areas included neighborhoods in Everett, Lake Goodwin, Marysville and Snohomish.

A half-inch to an inch of rain fell on Everett and areas to the south between Wednesday afternoon and Thursday afternoon, the Weather Service reported. County officials put the totals even higher, at up to 2 inches in spots of south county. Melting snow from earlier in the week contributed to urban flooding.

Rainfall totals were heavier to the south and lower to the north. Some places near Olympia received more than 2.5 inches. After a lull, showers were expected to return late Thursday through Friday.

“It won’t be as heavy as what we got today,” weather service meteorologist Johnny Burg said.

Minor flooding was possible along the Stillaguamish River near Arlington. The most recent predictions had the river cresting around midnight just below flood stage.

“It’s going to be right at flood stage or just below — it’s not going to go much higher than that,” said Brent Bower, a National Weather Service hydrologist.

The South Fork Stilly crested Thursday and wasn’t expected to rise further.

Lake Serene north of Lynnwood continued to rise. Waterfront property owners have watched uneasily over the past few weeks as water levels remained high, even during dry weather. County drainage inspectors suspect a blockage in the outflow pipe from the lake. A permanent fix could take up to two years.

Citing high avalanche danger, state transportation officials closed U.S. 2 over Stevens Pass. No estimate was available for the highway reopening.

Snoqualmie Pass was closed all day Thursday, but the state Department of Transportation said it might reopen I-90 over the pass late that night.

Noah Haglund: 425-339-3465; nhaglund@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @NWhaglund.