Active Weather Continues Across the Pacific Northwest

FastCast—Sunday, Oct. 24 to Tuesday, Oct. 26:

Sunday was a very active day across Western Washington. We had gap winds, thunderstorms, heavy rain, and strong southerly winds…all due to the massive & record-breaking storm offshore. The winds caused upwards of 85,000 customers to lose power around the area and caused a lot of tree damage. After a lull Sunday evening, winds will increase again on Monday, gusting 30-40 mph in the interior. Dangerous conditions will continue on the coast, with winds gusting 60-80 mph and 25-40 foot waves. North of Everett, winds gusting 50-60 mph are expected. Additionally, 0.25-0.75 inches of rain are possible around the interior through Tuesday. For more information about the current active weather pattern, continue reading below!

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Continue reading the full blog below!

Sunday was a very active day around Western Washington. It was all due to the massive & record-breaking storm offshore. The storm bottomed out at 943 millibars, the deepest storm ever in Pacific Northwest waters. This is an extraordinary storm, and its ongoing effects have been widespread. 

I went to the North Bend, Maple Valley, and Covington areas Sunday morning to see the gap winds and the storm damage in the harder-hit foothill communities. The photos below are from Maple Valley and Covington.

These were two of over 500 individual outages in the PSE service area today. As of 9:45 PM Sunday, there were still 48,000 PSE customers in the dark.

Winds on Sunday were stronger than anticipated in parts of the Puget Sound area due to a cold front that moved north through the area Sunday afternoon. Below are peak gusts, some that reached 50+ mph.

Now for the forecast: wind is the big headline. In the interior (see Federal Way forecast below) expect gusts of 30-40 mph at times through late Monday.

In other locations, winds will be more intense. North of Everett, gusts will reach 40-60 mph. The coast will be where the real action is, where gusts will reach 65-80 mph along with massive 25-40 foot waves and 2-3 feet of tidal overflow at times. 

Expect rain as well on Monday and Tuesday. Below is the UW rain forecast through 5 PM Tuesday. 

Expect 0.3-0.75 inches of rain in the interior through Tuesday evening, with more (1-3 inches) on the coast, and up to 7.5 inches in the mountains. 

An atmospheric river is possible on Thursday, with at least an inch of rain for interior locations. Stay tuned as this active weather pattern continues!