Flood — Cowlitz, Washington

2017-03-15 to 2017-03-16 · near Kelso, Cowlitz, Washington

Event narrative

Heavy rain in addition to high river levels on the Columbia River caused the Cowlitz River near Kelso to flood. The river crested at 22.10 feet, which is 0.60 feet above flood stage.

Wider weather episode

An atmospheric river brought heavy rain and flooding to parts of southwest Washington. In addition, heavy rain combined with snowmelt runoff in eastern Washington contributed to rising river levels on the Columbia River. While flooding on the Cowlitz River only occurred with heavy rain on the 16th, longer lasting flooding occurred on the Columbia River which remained above flood stage until April 4th.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (46.1440, -122.9177)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 689256. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.