Rain and wind move into Washington state this week

SEATTLE — The National Weather Service says the winds and rain moving into Washington state will be stronger and heavier than expected.

The first of three storms arrived Tuesday. Officials expect heavy rain in the mountains and wind gusts reaching 40 miles (64 kilometers) per hour.

The weather service advises people to trim trees to avoid falling branches that could cause power outages.

As the next storm moves in Wednesday, officials say the rainfall could cause minor flooding on the Skokomish and North Cascade rivers. Wind gusts of 45 to 50 miles  per hour are expected.

Snow in the mountains could create travel problems.

The weekend should see another storm that could cause flooding.

Officials say cleaning fallen leaves out of storm drains will help prevent some flooding.