Politics & Government

City Asks Residents to Prepare for Local Flooding With Rain in the Forecast

A winter weather advisory remains in effect across Western Washington, along now with a flood watch.

A winter weather advisory and flood watch are in effect for Kirkland Friday, and the city is asking resident to prepare for localized flooding as weather slowly warms through the day and possible snow or freezing rain turns to just rain.

"We're expecting in the low points localized flooding," Bobbi Wallace, a Kirkland Public Works Department manager, said Friday morning. "If citizens can get out and clear debris from the catch basins (storm drains), that would be great. If there's a chunk of ice on them, the water won't drain."

Crews continue to plow city streets, and are finding softer surface conditions. "It's melting now, so they're able to peel the ice layer away," Wallace said.

Find out what's happening in Kirklandwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

As road conditions improve, staff will be shifted to addressing runoff.

"We're preparing to take our storm water folks and others and put them on our surface water conveyance system," Wallace said. "That will be our next mission, trying to clear the slush away."

Find out what's happening in Kirklandwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The city is also worried about areas prone to landslides. "That could happen with this type of saturation," she said.

Driving conditions will remain hazardous at least for the first part of the day. For the latest road closures around Kirkland -- a new one is steep 1st Street between Central Way and 3rd Avenue downtown -- see the city's Storm Update 7 here.

Rivers and creeks across King County are expected to rise as rain melts accumulated snow, and a wet storm system moving in this weekend could push major rivers to flood levels.

Here is the National Weather Service’s pinpoint forecast for Kirkland:

Today: Occasional snow and freezing drizzle before 10am, then rain. Snow level 200 feet rising to 3700 feet. High near 40. Light wind becoming southeast between 10 and 13 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. Little or no ice accumulation expected. Total daytime snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible.

Tonight: Rain. Low around 40. Southeast wind between 15 and 18 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%.

Saturday: Showers, mainly before 10am. High near 45. Breezy, with a southwest wind between 20 and 29 mph, with gusts as high as 40 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%.

Saturday Night: A 40 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 38. South southwest wind between 9 and 11 mph.


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