Recap: Windstorm & Major Flooding, Colder Weather Ahead

 FastCast-Wednesday, Nov. 17 to Saturday, Nov. 20:

What a start to November! Active weather has been nonstop, and most areas have received well over the normal monthly rainfall. Some extreme events have occurred as well, with devastating flooding in Whatcom and Skagit Counties & BC's Lower Mainland, strong winds around most of Western Washington, and flooding in urban areas and on most local rivers. Now, the weather will calm down significantly! Floodwaters will begin to recede in Whatcom County & BC, the area can dry out, and damage can begin to be repaired. Wednesday morning will be the coldest of the month, with temperatures in the upper 20s to low 30s. Frost is possible in the morning. It will be mostly cloudy through the day, and rain will move in by midday Thursday, totaling 0.3-0.5” around the Lowlands. Snow levels will be much lower, with totals in the passes of 4-6” by Friday. Some showers will remain on Friday, and then a dry day is expected on Saturday. Expect cooler temperatures in the lowlands, with highs in the mid to upper 40s, and lows in the upper 30s to low 40s.

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It has been a very active first half of November in Western Washington. Perhaps it can be summed up in this stunning image from Benjamin Jurkovich, taken during Monday's windstorm.

This semi truck overturned on the Deception Pass Bridge at the height of Monday's windstorm, precariously leaning on the railing, 180 feet above the stormy seas. Winds in the area gusted 50-70 mph. Thankfully, the driver was able to escape the truck!

Winds were very strong around the area, gusting 40-58 mph in the Puget Sound area, 50-75 mph along the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and 50-65 mph on the coast. Significant power outages occurred, with over 200,000 customers out of the power at the height of the storm. 

The photo below from Valley Regional Fire shows massive tree that fell on power lines in Auburn.

This was a common sight around the area, especially due to the very saturated soils because of the huge amounts of rain recently.

Below are peak wind gusts around the region on Monday, with a zoomed in graphic of the Puget Sound area.

The strongest gusts in the Puget Sound area were 58 mph gusts recorded at Sea-Tac Airport and Point Robinson on Vashon Island. Numerous gusts of 45-55 mph were also recorded.

Despite the crazy wind, the biggest story has been the devastating flooding in Skagit & Whatcom Counties and BC’s Lower Mainland. Some updates, photos, and videos of the flooding are linked below: (Also check my Twitter page)

Randy Small (Whatcom County Weather) Twitter

Live Storms Media YouTube Channel

Below are rain totals in NW Washington and SW British Columbia. These are large totals in any event, but it is incredible (and devastating) that all this rain fell in 3 days.

Massive totals of 4-9 inches fell from Saturday to Monday. This is near or greater than average November rainfall for these areas, and as you would expect, the impacts were massive and widespread.

Water rescues, record river flooding, widespread & damaging urban flooding, and landslides all were common. Landslides & major flooding closed I-5, numerous Washington highways, the Trans-Canada Highway, and all roads connecting the Vancouver metro area with the interior of Canada were cut off. 

The flooding situation in NW WA and SW BC is ongoing, and impacts will likely continue for days. Stay tuned to local officials for the latest updates.

Looking ahead, cooler weather is expected. Lows in the upper 20s to low 30s are expected Wednesday morning. Rain returns on Thursday, though the system will not be very impactful. Below is the UW forecast through Friday.

Expect 0.3-0.5” from Thursday to early Friday. Mountain snow is expected as well, with 4-6” at the passes by Friday.

Temperatures will generally be much cooler than the first half of November. Expect highs in the mid to upper 40s and lows in the upper 30s to low 40s (except much colder Wednesday morning).