At least four rivers reached record levels this week as an atmospheric river swept through Western Washington, causing floods, landslides and other devastation.
Swollen rivers led to floods in numerous counties and evacuation notices for several cities, though some have been rescinded. Most of the rivers’ levels crested between Wednesday night and early Friday morning and while some didn’t beat previous records, most were close.
But while some rivers, like the Snohomish River, reached a record high on Thursday, they were still at major levels of flooding as of Friday morning. The Snohomish River at Snohomish on Friday was still above its previous record level.
Here are some rivers that reached record high levels this week:
- Cedar River at Renton crested at a record 18.22 feet on Thursday. The previous record was 17.13 feet, set on Nov. 24, 1990.
- Snohomish River at Snohomish crested at a record 34.15 feet on Thursday. The previous record was 33.5 feet, set on Nov. 25, 1990.
- Skagit River at Mount Vernon crested at a record 37.73 feet at 12:15 a.m. Friday. The previous record was 37.37 feet, set on Nov. 25, 1990.
- Nooksack River at North Cedarville crested at a record 150.49 feet Thursday morning. The previous record was 149.61 feet, set on Nov. 6, 2006.
Here are some rivers that almost reached record levels:
- Skykomish River at Gold Bar crested at 24.09 feet on Wednesday, nearly reaching the record of 24.51 feet, set on Nov. 6, 2006.
- Wenatchee River at Peshastin crested at 17.1 feet on Thursday, nearly reaching the record of 17.9 feet, set on Nov. 30, 1995.
- Snohomish River at Monroe crested at 24.55 feet on Thursday, reaching its highest level since 1990 when a record of 25.3 feet was set.
- Skagit River at Concrete crested at 41.13 feet on Thursday, reaching its highest level since 2003 when a record of 42.21 feet was set.
- Snoqualmie River at Snoqualmie Falls crested at 20 feet on Wednesday, reaching its highest level since 2009. The record for that location is 21.55 feet, set on Nov. 24, 1990.
- Stillaguamish River at Arlington crested at 20.17 feet on Thursday. The record for that location is 21.34 feet, set on Dec. 5, 2023.
- Puyallup River at Orting crested at 12.3 feet on Wednesday, reaching its highest level since 2015. The record for that location is 12.4 feet, set on Nov. 6, 2006.
