FastCast—Monday, Sep. 19 to Saturday, Sep. 24:
It was a relatively typical late summer weekend in Western Washington, with a mix of sun and clouds, breezy conditions at times, and even some brief showers in the South Sound early Sunday morning. Temperatures will increase to 5-10 degrees above average on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Expect lowland highs in the mid to upper 70s, hottest east of I-5 and south of Tacoma. Due to slight offshore flow, expect northerly winds along Puget Sound gusting 20-30 mph, especially later Monday through Tuesday afternoon. The same offshore flow will bring gap winds gusting 20-25 mph and stronger Fraser River outflow in Whatcom and San Juan Counties, with NE winds gusting 25-40 mph. There is potential for localized areas of higher fire danger, and potentially for areas of smoke due to the Bolt Creek Fire (which has burned 10,220 acres and is 79% contained). Flow will switch back onshore by Thursday, with cooler temperatures through Saturday. Expect lowland highs in the mid to upper 60s. Lows from Monday through Saturday will be in the upper 40s to mid 50s.
Keep reading below for information about Hurricane Fiona, currently impacting Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic.
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Continue reading the full blog below!
Weak offshore flow will develop in Western Washington to start this week. The main impact will be warmer than average temperatures and breezy offshore winds. There is a chance of some areas of higher fire danger and localized smoke (especially near the Bolt Creek Fire).
Offshore winds will be strongest from Monday evening through early Tuesday afternoon. The HRRR forecast for gusts at 9 AM Tuesday is below.
The HRRR shows the strongest winds in the Fraser River Gap, impacting Whatcom and San Juan Counties with NE wind gusts of 30-40 mph. Winds will gust 20-30 mph near Puget Sound and in the Cascades (where isolated higher gusts are possible).
Offshore flow also brings higher temperatures than usual, as we will see in Western Washington through Wednesday. The NAM forecast for Monday’s highs is below.
Expect lowland highs in the mid to upper 70s. Eastern Washington and the Willamette Valley will make a return to the low 80s. Even the coast will reach the upper 60s, due to offshore flow. Some areas along Puget Sound, especially Everett northward, will remain in the upper 60s to low 70s.
Region-wide, temperatures will be 5-15 degrees above average. The European model forecast below shows temperature departure from average on Tuesday afternoon.
Temperatures in Western Washington and Oregon will be 5-15 degrees above average, while Northern California is 5-25 degrees below average! What a change of events! This is due to a persistent upper-level low off Northern California that will bring cooler temperatures and a much-needed 0.5-2.5 inches of rain.
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In Puerto Rico, there is devastation due to Hurricane Fiona, which is currently impacting Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic as an 85 mph Category 1 hurricane. (RadarScope radar image below from Sunday morning)
The entire island was impacted by heavy rain and gusty winds from the core of Fiona, and the southern half of the island, including the major city of Ponce, was impacted by Fiona’s northern eyewall.
Below is the NWS map showing peak gusts in Puerto Rico on Sunday.
Notice the peak gusts on the southern and western parts of the island, reaching 60-100 mph. The highest gust was 103 mph on an exposed headland near Ponce. Gusts in the capitol and largest city of San Juan, on the northern shore of the island, reached 50-60 mph.
As you would expect on a heavily forested tropical island, the power grid was severely impacted. As of 9:30 PM (Pacific Time), the entire island of Puerto Rico has no power, although some isolated areas are reported to have power again. The PowerOutage.us map shows that 100% of Puerto Rico (1.4 million customers) has no power.
The grid did not take as big of a hit as it did from Category 5 Hurricane Maria’s 100-160 mph gusts in September 2017, and power should be restored within weeks instead of within months or years.
The National Hurricane Center forecast for Hurricane Fiona is below.
Fiona will make landfall in the Eastern Dominican Republic and will impact the eastern Turks and Caicos as a high-end Category 1 to Category 2 hurricane (winds 90-105 mph), before strengthening to Category 3 (120-125 mph) while making a very close pass to Bermuda. Stay tuned on Twitter and national news outlets.
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