Flash Flood — Grant, Washington

2018-05-17 · near Ephrata, Grant, Washington

Event narrative

Flooding from heavy rain producing thunderstorms occurred in Ephrata during the late evening of May 17th. Basin Street, the main road through the downtown business district was flooded with 4 to 8 inches of water with first floor damage to multiple businesses in the downtown area. A portion of the ceiling in the Department of Corrections building collapsed due to standing water on the roof.

Wider weather episode

Thunderstorms developed over the east slopes of the Cascades and the Columbia Basin in a rich feed of wrap around moisture from an upper low over Oregon during the night of May 17th. These storms dumped a general quarter to half inch of rain over most of the western basin, but individual cells locally produced higher amounts with Ephrata measuring 0.72 inches. Local flash flooding and debris flows were noted from these storms.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (47.3275, -119.5552)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 758680. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.