Atmospheric river floods roads across Inland Northwest, with rain expected through Tuesday
U.S. Highway 2 in Airway Heights was reduced to one lane due to flooding on Sunday as work crews directed traffic. (Courtesy of Washington State Department of Transportation)
Several state highways in Eastern Washington were flooded as an atmospheric river swept across the region Sunday, with the Washington State Department of Transportation shutting down some sections and advising travelers not to risk their safety by driving through them, according to posts from the department on the social media platform X.
On Sunday morning, the department posted on X that state Route 27 near Oakesdale, Washington, was closed to traffic. Just south of Fairfield, according to WSDOT, a mudslide shut down another section of road. Access to SR27 between Oakesdale and Tekoa was closed in both directions but opened by Sunday evening.
Sections along state Route 23 also shut down near Lamont and Steptoe, Washington.
A swath of state Route 25 north of Davenport, Washington, was closed Sunday as well.
State Route 272 at milepost 9 was closed due to “water over the roadway.”
State Route 231 from Interstate 90 to U.S. Highway 2 was shut down due “to multiple areas of flooding and impassable water,” a post from the department stated. Maintenance crews, according to WSDOT, were able to reinforce the road’s shoulders, allowing traffic to continue.
U.S. Highway 2 in Airway Heights just east of Fairchild Air Force Base at the railroad bridge was reduced to one lane, the department wrote on X. Crews were directing traffic, WSDOT wrote.
The Moscow-Pullman Daily News reported “washouts, mudslides and rockslides (in Whitman County). Multiple roads were closed or became impassible,” citing Whitman County Public Works.
The National Weather Service issued a flooding advisory in Idaho, including for Bonner, Boundary, Kootenai, Lewis, Nez Perce and Shoshone counties, and in the Washington counties of Asotin, Garfield and Spokane. The following cities and towns could experience flooding: Spokane, Spokane Valley, Coeur d’Alene, Lewiston, Post Falls, Hayden, Cheney, Sandpoint, Clarkston, Rathdrum, Bonners Ferry, Dalton Gardens, Kellogg, Priest River, Pinehurst, Osburn, Lapwai, Wallace, Liberty Lake and Airway Heights, according to the weather service.
The atmospheric river is expected to continue in the Pacific Northwest and into the northern Rocky Mountains through Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service’s website, with “heavy precipitation and strong winds.”
For more information about road closures, visit the WSDOT website: wsdot.wa.gov.