Mudslide shuts down I-5 North in Bellingham following extreme rain

Interstate 5 in Bellingham, Washington, was slammed by 2,000 cubic yards of mud early Sunday morning following extraordinarily intense rain.

More than an inch of rain fell on Bellingham Airport in less than an hour, and more than 2 inches in 6 hours, according to the National Weather Service.

The mudslide closed northbound I-5 shortly before 5 a.m., with no estimate as of 11 a.m. Sunday when it would reopen. Northbound traffic backed up for 3 miles, according to the Washington State Department of Transportation.

The agency called in a specialty tow truck to remove an 18-wheeler stuck in the mud and vegetation covering the highway.

Extreme rain can lubricate surface soil layers and lead to landslides.

Scientists say the Northwest can expect more intense storms and more mudslides as fossil-fuel pollution keeps overheating the planet.

RELATED: Europe's intense rainfall in September twice as likely thanks to climate change

National Weather Service meteorologist Harrison Rademacher told KUOW local rainfall varied greatly with this storm due to its unstable air and swirling patterns of convection.

"This resulted in localized bands of heavy rainfall," Rademacher said by email.

About four times more rain hit Bellingham Airport than Ferndale, just 5 miles away. Another 8 miles to the northeast, the city of Lynden, on the flood-prone Nooksack River, reported the heaviest rain: 2.9 inches in 24 hours.

Most of the Seattle metropolitan area received between 0.5 and 1 inch of rain, while many areas on the west slopes of the Cascades got 1.5 inches or more.

By 7:30 a.m., Sunday had already become Bellingham's wettest Oct. 27 and its second-wettest October day on record, with more rain in the afternoon forecast.