The promised storm has begun. Tens of thousands of customers have already lost power, mainly in the southern Puget Sound region at this point...and more will surely follow.
The composite weather radar image is extraordinary (see image around 7:40 PM below). The low center was then along the central Washington coast. We can only see this because of the Langley Hill radar near Hoquium (thanks, as always, to Senator Cantwell for helping to make that radar a reality).
As of 7 PM, winds have exceeded 70 mph on the coast and at Crystal Mountain, with and over 50 mph over the south Sound area (see below).
With low pressure along the coast and higher pressure inland, strong easterly winds from the east descended the western slopes of the Cascades, contributing to power outages from Issaquah and Black Diamond to Enumclaw and out to the Sound.
This has resulted in massive power outages in these locations (see Puget Sound Energy outage map at 7:30 PM)
In Seattle, only about 850 customers have lost power.
The numbers increase greatly in the hours ahead.
The latest UW/Seattle Windwatch prediction of maximum winds in Seattle suggests that winds will peak around midnight, as the low center passes to the north (see prediction below). This early in the season, with lots of leaves on the trees and untested new growth, one can expect substantial power loss with such winds.
Showtime in 2-3 hours for central Puget Sound. Time to make sure all my devices are charged up.
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Thanks for the update, Professor. Some of the gusts here at the coast have been impressive. At the time I'm typing this, over 24,000 Grays Harbor PUD customers are in the dark, including all of Ocean Shores and Westport. I don't recall a storm causing this many outages out here in quite some time. I feel for all the utility workers who will be out there getting the lights back on. Their work is greatly appreciated.
ReplyDeleteMax gust so far at my location in Bellingham was a rather anemic 39mph at about a quarter to 8pm. A few isolated power outages but, once again, nothing to write home about.
ReplyDeleteI live in North Seattle and I was surprised at how windy today was, and this evening (Sat eve). My lights have been flickering a lot today. So far no outage in Greenwood, although I am hearing Wallingford has an outage.
ReplyDeleteWe had notably rapid pressure changes at our home in NE Seattle. Barometric pressure wasn’t notably high and didn’t get deeply low, but it moved from 1007 to 994 and started back up over one of the shorter periods of time in my many decades of weather observation. I don’t have a wind gauge but our wind was mostly like a torrent of water descending a steep river valley than wind in gusts, although there were bursts of even stronger wind. Subjectively, judging by the bending of the big conifers in the neighborhood I’d estimate it reached 40+ mph. Over the last 48 hours our rain gauge has captured 1.8 inches, not historic, but a nice addition to top soils. A lot of leaves came down.
ReplyDeletewasn't all that windy in the South Hill area, though a fast moving tstorm came through at about 5pm Saturday. nevertheless, lost power at 430 am today and got it back around 6. the PSE outage map shows that the foothills got hit hard though
ReplyDeleteIt appears that the high country of Mt. Baker, parts of the Cascades, and Olympics received a substantial amount of snow. Heather Meadows (~4200’) at the Mt. Baker Ski Area is reporting a current snow depth of 20”, Easy Pass (5280’) is reporting a record-for-the-date snow depth of 24”, Washington Pass (5450’) is reporting a snow depth of 21”, Chinook Pass (5500’), which had its earliest closure in history, is reporting a snow depth of 16”, White Pass Upper (5800’) is reporting a snow depth of 22”, White Chuck Mt. (5050’) is reporting a snow depth of 16”, Stevens Pass Upper is reporting a snow depth of 16”, Hurricane Ridge is reporting a snow depth of 16”, Crystal Mountain (5940’) is reporting a snow depth of 15”. Overall, this appears to have been a rather significant early season snow-maker - we’ll see if any of it sticks around...
ReplyDeleteInsane snowfall rates above 3000 ft.
ReplyDeleteSaturday afternoon, before the arrival of the storm, I noticed that the air was unusually clear looking east from Phinney Ridge. Cloudy up above, but I could see every wrinkle on the Cascade slopes. Was that related in any way to the approaching system?
ReplyDeleteVery good observation Jerry. There was strong easterly flow before the storm with powerful descent on the western slopes of the Cascades. The produces compressional warming and a strong decline in humidity.....which increases visibility. Got any pictures?
DeleteI think a blog post about Visibility would be really interesting and appreciated. Viewing and photographing our distant mountains is really enjoyable and it would help in planning to know what to look for in advance so as not to miss it.
DeleteDon't know about power in T-Town, but I sure didn't loose any.
ReplyDeleteThat said, the lights did blink several times during heavier gusts. Was able to take advantage of the dryness between mid morning and around noon-1pm time frame to bring in my ladder to replace bulbs in the office and put it away and get old food tossed into the food waste/yard waste bin at the back of the yard and also made a quick run to Walmart (nearest to my house) for a couple of things and later in between showers had to hit Fred Meyer for the mushrooms I needed to make stroganoff last night (totally forgot them while at Walmart, or I'd not make a special run for them).
Slept like a baby through it all and no power loss. Today was much calmer, though evidence we had a wind storm as in the median of S 19th St in places, fir needles etc were evident (I live in Tacoma's central area). So overall, we fared mostly OK as far as I know.
Cliff et al. I went up Mailbox Peak at 3:30pm today. Moderate rainfall turned to snow at 3300ft. The snow became moderate to heavy above 3600ft. There was at least a foot of new snow when we entered the talus field around 4100ft. I have pictures, but Idk how to post them here. I suspect that with SW winds, this snowfall is orographically enhanced. Mailbox is a good 12 miles west of Snoq Pass. There was very heavy snow falling at times. The dogs had a blast, but at 59, it's getting harder to keep pace with 8 legs😆.
ReplyDeleteYesterday, I couldn't bring myself to ride the indoor bike for a third day in a row. I got a little wet and my bike computer display went blank after five minutes (it can't handle precipitation), but it was otherwise a fine ride. The biggest issue was about a half dozen spots of the trail had become buried with so much leaves that I had to really slow down through. I didn't see any evidence of recently fallen trees, but I'm sure I'll get the chance to see that real soon.
ReplyDeleteNo power loss in Lake Forest Park, though we just had some repairs due to an outage a couple weeks earlier, which might have helped.
ReplyDeleteCliff, we're relocating to the Tampa area fairly soon. We have deeply appreciated your grounded and scientific approach to weather reporting. Is there anyone you would recommend that we follow in that part of the country, who has a similar outlook/approach to you?