Strong winds hit parts of Western Washington

Gusty winds are impacting Western Washington with power outages in some areas.

There are or were outages in west Bellevue, Bainbridge Island, Olympia, Silverdale and Sedro-Woolley. As of 6:35 a.m. Friday, about 1,800 people were without power.

Friday morning, the strongest winds were north of Everett where wind speeds were as high as 36 mph.

A high wind warning is in effect for western Skagit and western Whatcom counties and the San Juans until 9 a.m.

Stronger wind is possible at the coast and the north interior, according to Meteorologist Morgan Palmer. Those wind gusts could reach 50 mph in some spots.

By mid-evening Thursday, wind gusts over 40 mph had been reported at Lopez Island, Forks and at Port Townsend.  A weather station at Destruction Island, just off the central coast of Washington clocked a wind gust of 60 mph.

A high wind warning is in effect for the coast lasting into Friday morning.

Palmer says the wind will be strongest through 4-7 Friday morning before subsiding.

For morning commuters, especially those driving on bridges or elevated roadways, it will remain rather gusty.

While this isn't expected to be a very damaging wind event, the fact that leaves remain on many trees adds to the wind load and the potential for small branches or weak trees to fail, causing power outages.

Cox Media Group