Flood watch issued for parts of Western Washington



SEATTLE -- It was nice to have three dry days in a row, but now we're back to the rain, breeze and mountain snow.

The National Weather Service has issued a flood watch from now through Saturday morning for areas along the coast and the northern interior. The flood watch includes the following counties: Clallam, Grays Harbor, Jefferson, Mason, Skagit and Whatcom.

Thursday will start out warmer and wet. It will dry out for a while midday, but the afternoon hours will be breezy and wet again. The strongest gusts will be at the coast and near Bellingham.

Since this is roughly the sixth wind storm this year, widespread tree damage is not expected because most of the weak trees have already blown down.

Thursday night into Friday morning will be sloppy for all. The mountain passes will be rainy on Thursday and snowy on Friday.

Friday will see some isolated thunderstorms with passing squalls, but there will be some afternoon sun breaks too. The first weekend of the New Year looks reasonable.