PACIFIC COUNTY — This weekend could potentially be interesting with a dual-threat of heavy rainfall and strong winds. The timing and extent of just how much of each is on its way remains unclear, but the National Weather Service is giving residents an early heads up.

Current models show the southwest Washington coast being soaked with 2-3 inches of rainfall between 04:00 a.m. Dec. 19 through 10 p.m. Dec. 20. Some Pacific County locations, including the Naselle area and higher elevations, could potentially see upwards of 4-6 inches of rainfall.

The more significant issue presenting itself with the storm is the increased risk of river flooding that is expected to affect the Willapa Hills area, including the Willapa River and down south, the Naselle River.

“The big message with this outlook is to keep an eye on the weather and river forecast for this weekend,” the NWS said in a press release on Dec. 16. “If the threat of flooding affects you, this is a great time to review your action plan in case flooding occurs.”

According to the Pacific County Emergency Management Agency (PCEMA) Director Scott McDougall, he has been watching developments closely.

“As of yesterday, [with] most of the models, there was a lot of disagreement over what [is] going to happen,” McDougall said. “About half the models said that there is potential flooding involved, and about half the models indicated that there wasn’t.”

McDougall continued, “[regarding the Naselle River] we started seeing, last year and in prior years as well, flooding prior to the [river] reaching flood stage. I worked with the NWS, and in conjunction with PCEMA, we have lowered the flood stage from 15.5ft to 15ft.”

The issue with recent years flooding on the Naselle River, according to McDougall, is the location of the flood gauge.

“There are a lot of small streams and tributaries that feed into the Naselle River down low where people actually live,” McDougall said. “So sometimes you don’t get an accurate read on the gauge from up in the hills.”