Floods of January 1974 in Washington

Record floods occurred in parts of Washington during January 14-21, 1974. The floods resulted from runoff from warm, moderately heavy rain that continued most of the week, augmented by runoff from the rapid melting of a near-record snowpack that extended to low elevations. New record peak flows occurred at many gaging stations which have been operated continuously for 20 to 50 years and at on which has been operated since 1907. At least two deaths were attributable to the floods, and property damage in the four hardest hit counties were estimate by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to be $21 million.