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It's been a hard week to be a weather forecaster in Portland.
Last weekend's predictions of the biggest snow storm of the century didn't come to fruition. But last night, the city was hit hard with rain. According to the National Weather Service of Portland, some areas north and west of Portland got over four inches of rain.
48 hour precip totals, with several gauges north and west of Portland reporting 4+ inches. Most of that fell Monday night thru Tuesday morning. https://t.co/fSw9w4OZ3b #orwx #wawx #pdxtst pic.twitter.com/IHPjT3rV9N
— NWS Portland (@NWSPortland) February 13, 2019
The deluge led to many road closures in the Pacific Northwest region.
Southeast Portland's Johnson Creek was rushing rapidly yesterday morning, leading some nearby residents to pile sandbags up along the bank, KGW reported.
Johnson Creek in SE Portland is moving fast and getting higher. Some nearby neighbors have already piled up the sandbags. NWS is forecasting the creek will rise up over 10 ft. this morning. Flood stage is 11 ft. pic.twitter.com/4zKTlcLCBz
— Keely Chalmers (@KeelyChalmers) February 12, 2019
Intersections in the West Hills were also sunken under several inches of standing water.
Traffic Alert: @MultCoRoads in the west hills between Portland & @WashcoOregon are hardhit by rains today. Flood photo is of NW Rock Creek & 220th Ave. Crews will close one lane of Cornelius Pass Rd at MP2 near US30 this afternoon due to slide risk. Watch for standing water. pic.twitter.com/BQXUlrClFE
— MultCo Road Services (@MultCoRoads) February 12, 2019
Along Highway 30, the Multnomah County Sheriff's office warned of the sudden appearance of roadside waterfalls making driving unsafe.
"Deputies patrolling Highway 30 saw what can only be described as a waterfall near the road," the agency tweeted. "Water is flowing across the highway. Please slow down."
Deputies patrolling Highway 30 saw what can only be described as a waterfall near the road.
— Multnomah Co Sheriff (@MultCoSO) February 12, 2019
Water is flowing across the highway.
Please slow down. pic.twitter.com/IE5GjXr64t
People say the water started doing down about an hour ago after completely covering Hwy 30, still strong water flow in the creek. #LiveOnK2 pic.twitter.com/npKkqn5qfl
— Reed Andrews (@ReedKATU) February 12, 2019
West of Portland, in Forest Grove, the fire department warned of debris from overflowing ditches cluttering roadways.
Flood waters have always littered roadways with debris from ditches. This is on NW Stringtown RD near NW Waldheim Way. MJ #pdxtraffic pic.twitter.com/U9kGtmy1jq
— Forest Grove Fire (@ForestGroveFire) February 12, 2019
North of Portland, in the riverside city of Rainier, flooding was rampant. KATU News reporter Reed Andrews captured much of the carnage on Twitter yesterday.
Here’s video Chad Taylor shot of the flooding outside his office that stuck around until the early afternoon in Rainier. #LiveOnK2 pic.twitter.com/JyC2Gs1qsE
— Reed Andrews (@ReedKATU) February 12, 2019
This homeowner tells me he’s got a lot of water inside his home, has two pumps going to get it all out. #LiveOnK2 pic.twitter.com/BJMM7BlCRs
— Reed Andrews (@ReedKATU) February 12, 2019
Making matters worse is this shed which is used as a donation drop for used clothes is flooded, no telling at this point if any of it is salvageable. #LiveOnK2 pic.twitter.com/wFwER7Q38K
— Reed Andrews (@ReedKATU) February 12, 2019
The good news? NWS of Portland reports that today "will be a rather quiet weather day, compared to the previous few days."
While we dry off: What has the weather been like where you are over the last week? Tag us on Twitter with your best, most hairy, or most hilarious, rain and snow photos and you might get a feature in our daily newsletter.