High Wind in Washington, March 13, 2001

Name: High Wind in Washington, March 13, 2001
Start: 2001-03-13T12:00
End: 2001-03-13T15:00
Location: Washington

March 13, 2001 · NWS SEW · 3 events in 3 counties and zones

Winds gusting to 60 mph knocked a modular home off the truck that was hauling it. Traffic was backed up for miles on either side of the Tacoma Narrows bridge as a result.

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 1
Property damage: $32,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 3

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS SEW wrote it up.

Winds gusting to 60 mph knocked a modular home off the truck that was hauling it. Traffic was backed up for miles on either side of the Tacoma Narrows bridge as a result. A woman was injured when a tree blew down and fell on her car. About 3500 customers were without power.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Seattle, WA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 13, 8:30 AM PST, 3 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 13, 8:30 AM PST, 3 hours 30 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA
830 AM PST TUE MAR 13 2001

WELL DEFINED UPPER LEVEL SHORT WAVE TROUGH DROPPING SOUTHEAST TOWARD
WA TODAY WITH SHARP UPSTREAM RIDGING. SURFACE COLD FRONT PASSED UIL
ABOUT 15Z AND WILL BE TO CASCADES SHORTLY. ONLY SCT SHOWERS WITH
FRONT AND MANY HOLES IN CLOUD COVER. MAIN IMPACT WITH TROUGH SO FAR
IS RAPID INCREASE OF SURFACE WINDS. NEAR GALE ALREADY IN SOUTH SOUND
IN RESPONSE TO MESOLOW NORTHEAST OLYMPIC PENINSULA WITH STRONG SWLY
FLOW AHEAD OF FRONT. MESOLOW SHOULD GRADUALLY SHIFT SOUTHEAST TO
NORTH KITSAP AS MIDLEVEL WINDS VEER TO WEST AND THEN NORTHWEST BY
TONIGHT. THIS WILL SUPPORT GOOD PSCZ. WIND SPEEDS WILL ALSO JUMP
RAPIDLY TO GALE FORCE IN STRAIT BEHIND FRONT THIS MORNING AND STAY UP
THROUGH THIS EVENING.

MESO-MODELS ALL INDICATE POST-FRONTAL PSCZ BY LATE MORNING AND THEN
CONTINE IT THROUGH TONIGHT. MODERATE INSTABILITY AND DAYTIME HEATING
SUPPORTS IDEA OF THUNDERSTORMS COAST...PSCZ AND MOUNTAINS FOR THIS
AFTERNOON AND EVENING. SNOW ADVISORY CONTINUES FOR CASCADES LATER
TODAY AND TONIGHT...ALTHOUGH EXACT LOCATION OF PSCZ WILL DETERMINE
WHETHER SNOQUALMIE OR STEVENS GETS THE VERIFYING AMOUNTS. COLMAN

UIL 752  SEA 542  OLM 651

.SEW...GALE WARNING COAST...STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA...PUGET SOUND AND
      HOOD CANAL.
      .SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY CAMANO ISLAND TO POINT ROBERTS.
      .SNOW ADVISORY WEST SLOPES OF THE CASCADESG AND PASSES.

.KATX...VCP21/CSR21...OPERATIONAL.

Event by event

3 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, W Pierce

When: March 13, 12:00 PM PST to 3:00 PM PST
Where: W Pierce forecast zone
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph)
Property damage: $32,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER

High Wind, Mason T Sw & Nw/Kitsap T X Se/Ec&se Jefferson

When: March 13, 12:00 PM PST to 3:00 PM PST
Where: Mason T Sw & Nw/Kitsap T X Se/Ec&se Jefferson forecast zone
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph)
Reported by: NEWSPAPER

High Wind, Thurston T X Se/Sw Mason/C&se Grays Harbor/W Lewis

When: March 13, 12:00 PM PST to 3:00 PM PST
Where: Thurston T X Se/Sw Mason/C&se Grays Harbor/W Lewis forecast zone
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph)
Injuries: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by: NEWSPAPER

What these are

High Wind: Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Washington in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in Washington, March 2001

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5233757, 5233758, 5233759.