Strong winds in Port Townsend, along Pacific coast; avalanches possible in Olympics
Published 7:45 pm Monday, March 19, 2012
Strong winds are expected tonight and overnight in the Port Townsend area and along the West End of the Olympic Peninsula. Here are the latest National Weather Service advisories:
SAN JUAN COUNTY-WESTERN WHATCOM COUNTY-WESTERN SKAGIT COUNTY-
ADMIRALTY INLET AREA-
331 PM PDT MON MAR 19 2012
…HIGH WIND WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 8 PM THIS EVENING TO 5 AM PDT
TUESDAY…
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SEATTLE HAS ISSUED A HIGH WIND
WARNING…WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 8 PM THIS EVENING TO 5 AM PDT
TUESDAY. THE HIGH WIND WATCH IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT.
* SOME AFFECTED LOCATIONS…THE SAN JUAN ISLANDS…LUMMI ISLAND
AND SANDY POINT NEAR BELLINGHAM…AND THE WEST COAST OF
WHATCOM COUNTY…WESTERN SKAGIT COUNTY AROUND THE GREATER
ANACORTES AREA…WHIDBEY ISLAND…PORT TOWNSEND.
* TIMING…TONIGHT. WINDS WILL INCREASE THIS EVENING. THE
STRONGEST WINDS WILL LIKELY OCCUR FROM AROUND MIDNIGHT THROUGH
EARLY TUESDAY MORNING.
* WIND…SOUTH TO SOUTHEAST WINDS 25 TO 40 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 60 MPH
POSSIBLE. WINDS WILL SHIFT TO SOUTHWEST LATE TONIGHT.
* IMPACTS…THESE WINDS COULD KNOCK DOWN TREE LIMBS AND POSSIBLY
DOWN WEAKER TREES…AND CAUSE POWER OUTAGES.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…
A HIGH WIND WARNING MEANS THAT A HAZARDOUS WIND EVENT IS IMMINENT
OR OCCURRING.
———–
NORTH COAST-CENTRAL COAST-
331 PM PDT MON MAR 19 2012
…WIND ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 7 PM THIS EVENING TO 2 AM PDT
TUESDAY…
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SEATTLE HAS ISSUED A WIND
ADVISORY…WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 7 PM THIS EVENING TO 2 AM PDT
TUESDAY. THE HIGH WIND WATCH IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT.
* SOME AFFECTED LOCATIONS…WESTPORT…OCEAN SHORES…COPALIS
BEACH…PACIFIC BEACH…KALALOCH…LAPUSH.
* TIMING…TONIGHT. THE STRONGEST WINDS WILL LIKELY FROM AROUND
MID EVENING UNTIL A LITTLE AFTER MIDNIGHT.
* WIND…SOUTH WINDS 25 TO 39 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 55 MPH. WIND
BECOMING SOUTHWEST AFTER MIDNIGHT.
* IMPACTS…THESE WINDS COULD KNOCK DOWN TREE LIMBS AND POSSIBLY
DOWN WEAKER TREES…AND CAUSE POWER OUTAGES.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…
A WIND ADVISORY IS ISSUED WHEN SUSTAINED WINDS OF 30 TO 39 MPH OR
GUSTS OF 45 TO 57 MPH ARE LIKELY.
————–
200 PM PDT MON MAR 19 2012
…AVALANCHE WARNING TUESDAY AND TUESDAY NIGHT FOR THE OLYMPICS…
WASHINGTON CASCADES NEAR AND WEST OF THE CREST… MT HOOD AREA…
A STRONG APPROACHING FRONTAL SYSTEM WILL CAUSE HEAVY SNOW LOADING
WITH STRONG WINDS OVERNIGHT AND TUESDAY. THE NEW WIND DRIVEN AND
HEAVY SNOWFALL WILL LOAD EXISTING WEAK LOW DENSITY POWDER SNOW THAT
HAS BEEN DEPOSITED OVER THE PAST THREE DAYS. THE CURRENT WEAK
SURFACE SNOW CONDITIONS WILL NOT SUPPORT THIS NEW HEAVY SNOW LOADING
CAUSING A SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN THE DANGER BY TUESDAY.
AS A RESULT OF THESE DEVELOPING DANGEROUS AVALANCHE CONDITIONS A
WARNING IS BEING ISSUED AHEAD OF THIS STRONG EXPECTED STORM FOR THE
OLYMPICS AND WEST SLOPE CASCADE AREAS.
SIMILAR HIGH AVALANCHE DANGER CONDITIONS SHOULD DEVLOP AT HIGHER
TERRAIN ALONG THE EAST SLOPES TUESDAY.
AS A RESULT OF THESE DEVELOPING DANGEROUS AVALANCHE CONDITIONS…
TRAVEL IN AVALANCHE TERRAIN IS NOT RECOMMENDED TUESDAY.
THIS STATEMENT WILL BE UPDATED AS CONDITIONS WARRANT. PLEASE VISIT
WWW.NWAC.US FOR FURTHER DETAILS.
BACKCOUNTRY TRAVELERS SHOULD BE AWARE THAT ELEVATION AND
GEOGRAPHIC DISTINCTIONS ARE APPROXIMATE AND THAT A TRANSITION
ZONE BETWEEN DANGERS EXISTS. REMEMBER THERE ARE AVALANCHE SAFE
AREAS IN THE MOUNTAINS DURING ALL LEVELS OF AVALANCHE DANGER.
NWAC WEATHER DATA AND FORECASTS ARE ALSO AVAILABLE BY CALLING
206-526-6677 FOR WASHINGTON, 503-808-2400 FOR THE MT HOOD AREA,
OR BY VISITING OUR WEB SITE AT WWW.NWAC.US.
