High Wind in Washington, October 23, 2001

Name: High Wind in Washington, October 23, 2001
Start: 2001-10-23T06:00
End: 2001-10-23T12:00
Location: Washington

October 23, 2001 · NWS SEW · 5 events in 5 counties and zones

Sustained winds 30-40 mph blew across most of western Washington, knocking out power to about 10,000 customers throughout the area. Several trees were also downed by the wind, one that damaged a car, and another that damaged a house.

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $20,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 5

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.

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 Oct 23, 1:50 AM PST, 4 hours 10 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Oct 23, 1:50 AM PST, 4 hours 10 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA
250 AM PDT TUE OCT 23 2001

.SYNOPSIS...WINDS WILL GRADUALLY DECREASE TODAY AS A LOW MOVES EAST
ACROSS BRITISH COLUMBIA. SCATTERED SHOWERS AND MOUNTAIN SNOW WILL
CONTINUE IN THE COOL AIR MASS BEHIND THE LOW. A WEAK WARM FRONT WILL
MOVE INTO THE AREA WEDNESDAY. AN UPPER LEVEL RIDGE WILL BUILD
OFFSHORE AND THEN DRIFT ACROSS THE AREA THURSDAY AND FRIDAY...FOR A
SHORT DRY PERIOD.

.DISCUSSION...AVN/ETA BOTH HAVE PK GRADIENT ACRS W WA ARND 12Z...
WHICH FITS CURRENT TREND IN OBSRVD GRADIENTS. MDLS ARE ON TARGET WITH
THE SFC LOW...JUST E OF QN CHARLOTTE SOUND AT 06Z. WNDS SHOULD PEAK
12Z-15Z SHORTLY AFT TIME OF MAX GRADIENT...THEN DCRS GRDLY THRU THE
DAY AS SFC LOW HEADS E. HAVE ISSUED HIGH WIND WARNING FOR WHIDBEY
ISLAND THRU 8 AM. GRAD THRU STRAIT WENT FM 4.1 TO 5.7 BY 09Z. RACE
ROCKS HAS HAD GUST TO 58KT...WITH 53KT AT SHERINGHAM. STORM WARNING
UP FOR STRAIT IN CONJUNCTION.

RADAR AND SAT IMGRY SHOW MOST OF CNTRL PGTSND IN THE CLEAR DUE TO
OLYMPIC RAIN SHADOW. THIS EXTENDS INTO THE CENTRAL CASCADES AS WELL.
XPCT THIS PTTN TO CONTINUE TODAY...BUT ENOUGH N COMPONENT IN WLY FLOW
TO TAKE THE MAIN SNOW THREAT AREA DOWN ACRS THE N QUARTER OF THE
CENTRAL CASCDS...INCLDG STEVENS PASS. SNOW LEVELS WL REACH 3000 FT BY
LATE MORNING. WL CONTINUE WINTER STORM WARNING FOR UPSLOPE SNOW...BUT
EMPHASIZE ABOVE MENTIONED AREA.

COASTAL FLOOD WARNING IS THE LAST MAIN PROB. VRISL BUOYS 207/132
SHOWED 30+ FT SWELL EARLIER WITH 40-50KT WNDS SUPPORTING WAVE
GENERATION. WAVE DECAY OUTPUTS HIGH 20S ON CST ARND SUNRISE WITH 30
FT STILL PSBL.

NXT WAVE IS NOW ON SAT IMGRY OUT NR 50N/165W...BUT DOESNT LOOK LIKE
MUCH. THIS IS OK AS AVN DOESNT REALLY DVLP THE WAVE UNTIL ITS
INSIDE 140W. AVN/ETA DIFFER ON DISTRIBUTION OF PCPN. HAVE SOME DOUBT
ABT THE AVN COVERAGE OF PCPN GIVEN THE SOMEWHAT WEAK 850MB WARM
ADVECTION FIELD. MOST DYNAMICS APPEAR TO BE FM 140KT JET OVRHD. AVN
QPF IS ALSO TOO HEAVY AT 0.60.

DRY PD LOOKS GOOD FOR THU/FRI. WL INTRODUCE SOME FOG/LOW CLDS INTO
FCST...ALONG WITH MORE SUNSHINE FOR FRI. AVN IS NOW SLOWER WITH
SKINNY OFSHR CDFNT ON SAT...LEAVING MOST OF SAT DRY. ECMWF IS A
LITTLE MORE MORE PROGRESSIVE...SO WL KP A CHC RAIN FCST FOR SAT. XPCT
SKINNY CDFNT MOVE THRU SAT NIGHT OR SUN...FOLLOWED BY UPR TROF. RAIN
AT TIMES FCST STILL GOOD. KAM
UIL 98+ SEA 638 OLM 758

.SEW...STORM WARNING STRAIT...GALE WARNING REMAINING WATERS.
      .HIGH WIND WARNING FOR WHIDBEY ISLAND THIS MORNING.
      .COASTAL FLOOD WATCH TODAY NORTH COAST.
      .COASTAL FLOOD WARNING TODAY CENTRAL COAST.
      .WINTER STORM WARNING CASCADES AND OLYMPICS TODAY.

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

In the hours before

Local storm report, Oct 23, 4:52 AM PST, 1 hour 8 minutes before

WAC009-231552-

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA
552 AM PDT TUE OCT 23 2001

TIME(PDT)  CITY LOCATION           STATE   EVENT/SPOTTER/REMARKS
           COUNTY LOCATION

551 AM     PORT ANGELES               WA   WIND
10/23/01   CLALLAM                         SPOTTER CLALLAM 38
                                           TREES DOWN ON POWER LINES
                                           1 MILE S OF DOWNTOWN PORT
                                           ANGELES

Event by event

5 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, W Skagit/Nw Snohomish

When: October 23, 6:00 AM PST to 12:00 PM PST
Where: W Skagit/Nw Snohomish forecast zone
Measured: 43 kt (49 mph)
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

High Wind, Island/Ne Jefferson

When: October 23, 6:00 AM PST to 12:00 PM PST
Where: Island/Ne Jefferson forecast zone
Measured: 36 kt (41 mph)
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

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

When: October 23, 6:00 AM PST to 12:00 PM PST
Where: Mason T Sw & Nw/Kitsap T X Se/Ec&se Jefferson forecast zone
Property damage: $20,000
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

High Wind, Sw Snohomish

When: October 23, 6:00 AM PST to 12:00 PM PST
Where: Sw Snohomish forecast zone
Measured: 42 kt (48 mph)
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

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

When: October 23, 6:00 AM PST to 12:00 PM PST
Where: Thurston T X Se/Sw Mason/C&se Grays Harbor/W Lewis forecast zone
Measured: 40 kt (46 mph)
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

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, October 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: 5269773, 5269774, 5269775, 5269776, 5269777.