KIRO 7’s meteorologists are calling for a Pinpoint Alert on Wednesday because there’s a chance some areas could see strong wind gusts, upwards of 60 miles per hour.
Downed trees, possible power outages, and a risk for landslides will increase. If the storm does develop the way some forecasts are calling for, it could be a nasty weather day.
On Wednesday, KIRO 7’s meteorologists are tracking a stronger storm moving up the west coast from the California/Oregon border. This low-pressure area will likely bring another round of heavy rain to Washington and some very gusty winds.
Computer forecast models are still predicting some windy and rainy weather for our area tomorrow, right in time for Christmas Eve. For the balance of this evening, we will continue to track relatively quiet weather in western Washington.
Overnight lows will be in the lower 40’s and upper 30’s this evening and a few coastal showers will be noted on the radar. Tomorrow morning will feature some isolated showers moving up from the south and there could be some rain in the mix as well.
Wind will be out of the northeast around 15 to 25 by late morning. Wind direction will change to the south in the afternoon as the stronger winds move in.
The storm will be an area of low pressure moving up the Oregon coast during the day. As this low tracks to the north we will see wind increase by noon and continue to get stronger during the late day and early evening.
The timing of the windy and wet weather is expected to last for several hours on Christmas Eve. Wind gusts over 30 mph are likely and there is a chance for wind gusts over 50 mph tomorrow evening. There are some computer forecast models that do NOT predict wind gusts that high, but it would be a good idea to prepare for the worst case scenario just in case.
The National Weather Service has issued a High Wind Watch for tomorrow.
Strongest gusts would be around Island County and Whatcom County. Those areas could see gusts above 60 mph. Peak times range from north to south, from about mid-morning around Olympia, to about midday in the Central Sound, to about 5 p.m. in the Northwest Interior. It could be a vast but powerful storm.
The two computer models that KIRO 7’s team is tracking show vastly different scenarios. The first shows what’s described above: A large south-to-north-moving area of low pressure that will increase strong southerly wind from late-morning Wednesday until the evening with gusts in the 50-60+ mph range.
This could knock out power for many ahead of the holiday, which is why KIRO 7 has issued the alert.
The second model, however, shows a different picture. It shows an area of low-pressure losing strength, with max gusts over the area hitting between 15 and 25 mph. This would be the ideal scenario between the two.
KIRO 7’s team will be watching this system very closely to determine whether the stronger gusts will become a reality, so you can prepare for potential outages and downed trees.
Thursday’s weather looks calmer with only a few showers on Christmas Day.
Friday looks similar with some areas of showers and mountain snow, and the weekend looks mainly dry with some sunbreaks.