Debris Flow — Douglas, Washington

2020-05-19 · near Waterville, Douglas, Washington

Event narrative

A rock slide was reported by Washington State Patrol on Highway US-2 in Pine Canyon between Orondo and Waterville.

Wider weather episode

An area of low pressure slowly migrating across western United States kept a moist and unstable southerly flow of moisture into eastern Washington and Idaho on May 19th and 20th. This steered disturbances northward through Eastern Washington. Scattered thunderstorms brought localized ponding and a rock slide. Half an inch of rain fell in Waterville from slow moving cell in far western Douglas County in the late afternoon of May 19th. A few miles to the west along US-2 between Orondo and Waterville, the prolonged period of rainfall led to a rock slide. Scattered thunderstorms across southeastern Washington created a cold-air funnel cloud.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (47.6502, -120.1501)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 895952. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.