(Photo of Kautz Creek as of 9 a.m. Photo courtesy of Lee Taylor, National Park Service.)

Mount Rainier National Park and its Nisqually entrance are closed today because water is flowing over the road near Kautz Creek. The road, the most traveled in the park, is expected to be closed all day, said park spokeswoman Donna Rahier.

The culverts east of the Kautz Creek bridge were not full of water, but the creek has diverted down the rock channel and is running over the road farther east of the culverts. There is about six inches of water on the road.

The stream flow has diverted somewhere upstream. Staffers are on site right now assessing the situation, Rahier said.

"There is a lot of water flowing through (the culverts), but they are not overflowing," Rahier said.

The culverts were installed following the November 2006 flood when the creek was diverted about one mile upstream from the bridge.

(From our friends over at the Adventure Guys blog)

UPDATE: The National Park Service is reporting the park is closed. In addition, the snow level on Mount Rainier is at 9,000 feet.

Seven guests stayed at the National Park Inn at Longmire last night and have been escorted from the park this morning because of the flooding conditions.

As readers may recall, the park suffered extensive flooding in November 2006. Officials hope this current storm won't bring a repeat.

"We hope this current flooding will not damage the road and we will be able to reopen as soon as the rain tapers off and the water level drops," Superintendent Dave Uberuaga said in a press release.