The East Fork Lewis River crested to a new single-day historical high for Dec. 9 by cracking the 20-foot mark amid heavy rain and flooding across the region last week.
At 6:45 a.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 9, the East Fork crested to 20.34 feet, according to the Heisson river gauge on the United States Geological Survey’s water data website. The river maintained a minor flood stage of 20 feet for nearly six hours during the morning of Dec. 9.
The Dec. 9 crest also measured the highest the river has been in all of 2025. The river previously crested to 18.58 feet in February. It hit a low of 9.99 feet near the end of September. At the beginning of December, the river measured just over 13 feet. By Sunday, Dec. 14, the river’s height measured at 14.18 feet and dropping.
As the East Fork Lewis River cracked a single-day record, the river came nowhere near the historical flood levels it did during the 1996 floods that saw the river measure 25.17 feet.
Once the river started to trend toward a normal height for the month of December, damage to the boat launch area was uncovered at Daybreak Regional Park when the park reopened on Thursday, Dec. 11.
Daybreak Regional Park wasn’t the only location in the county to see a closure as a result of high water levels.
Clark County Public Works closed Northeast J R Anderson Road between Northeast 72nd Avenue and Mason Creek Road east of La Center as a result of flood waters on Mason Creek. Numerous roads and parks were closed as a precaution due to the impacts of the rising river and creek levels last week. As of Dec. 11, all closures had ended, with Daybreak Regional Park hit with the greatest impact of the raging waters.
Clark County Public Works stated in a social media post that there is no estimated timeline for reopening the boat launch. Access to the trail remains opened.
During last week’s atmospheric rivers — in a 72-hour period from 8 a.m. Sunday, Dec. 7, through 8 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 10 — the National Weather Service of Portland stated that Battle Ground experienced 3.41 inches of rain while La Center saw an inch more at 4.58 inches of rainfall. The measurement for Yacolt reached 5.62 inches of rain while Larch Mountain measured in at 6.35 inches. In Skamania County, near Swift Reservoir, rainfall measured in at over a foot with 14.6 inches of rain being recorded by the National Weather Service.
The river heights and rainfall totals during the Monday, Dec. 15, and Tuesday, Dec. 16, forecasted atmospheric river were not available at press time.
