While many communities in Grays Harbor County were hard hit by major flooding and landslides following a 20-hour overnight deluge Sunday and Monday, Jan. 4 and 5, communities on the South Beach escaped relatively unscathed. A whopping 7.18 inches of rain were recorded at the National Weather Service station in Hoquiam in a 24-hour period, with more than 12” on the gauge at weather station in the Quinault area. The rain tapered off by noon on Monday.
Those figures mark the highest two-day rainfall recorded in Grays Harbor County since records started being kept in 1953.
Aberdeen and east Hoquiam were among the hardest hit areas. Landslides in Hoquiam destroyed several homes on Queets Avenue at the base of Beacon Hill, forcing evacuation of residents in a six-block area through Tuesday.
Aberdeen bluff slide
An early morning slide down the bluff along Highway 12 at the eastern entrance to Aberdeen tossed earth, rocks and trees down over the bank and onto the railroad tracks below. The slide closed all four lanes of the main artery into and out of Aberdeen for more than 12 hours. Vehicles were forced to detour around to Highway 101 and Highway 107. A mudslide on Highway 107 Monday morning exacerbated the situation further, blocking one of its two lanes.
Two lanes of Highway 12 – one in each direction – were opened at 7:25 p.m. Monday evening, with all four lanes open 24 hours later.
Widespread flooding
Streets in business and residential districts in Aberdeen, Hoquiam and Cosmopolis were covered with up to six inches of water by Monday’s 12:49 p.m. high tide. Relief came in the late afternoon and early evening when flood waters started receding rapidly with the outgoing tide.
SR105 closed
South Beachers were also blocked from traveling to the south beyond Tokeland when both directions of SR105 were closed between Smith Creek Bridge at milepost 10 and Airport Road at milepost 4.5 at 7 a.m. Monday morning. A debris slide blocked the roadway near milepost 8. State Department of Transportation crews cleared the damage and reopened the highway several hours later.
Some high water locally
High tide at mid-day saw Lake Cohasset on Chehalis Avenue spill over its banks, but the center of the roadway remained clear. There was water over the roadway in the Grayland area, but that phenomenon isn’t uncommon during wet-weather days.
In Ocosta, Johns River Road was closed due to flooding for several hours.
Schools closed
Nearly all schools along the coast were closed on Monday, including Grays Harbor College and, as a precaution due to potentially hazardous water over roadways, Ocosta Schools were closed, as well. Aberdeen schools and the college were closed on Tuesday, as well.
Warm front culprit
According to the National Weather Service, the exceptional amount of precipitation that fell in so short a period of time was the result of colder-than-average temperatures over the region that were met with a warm front coming in from the Pacific with subtropical moisture. As a result, the atmosphere quickly became warmer and took on more water vapor that then precipitated out.
