High Wind in Washington, December 17 to 18, 2005

Name: High Wind in Washington, December 17 to 18, 2005
Start: 2005-12-17T14:30
End: 2005-12-18T13:00
Location: Washington

December 17 to 18, 2005 · NWS SEW · 1 event in 1 county or zone

High winds knocked out power to about 14,000 residents along the Cascade foothills. Nine homes were struck by falling trees, one causing severe damage.

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $300,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

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.

High winds knocked out power to about 14,000 residents along the Cascade foothills. Nine homes were struck by falling trees, one causing severe damage.

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 Dec 17, 9:25 AM PST, 5 hours 5 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 17, 9:25 AM PST, 5 hours 5 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA
925 AM PST SAT DEC 17 2005

.SYNOPSIS...STRONG HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT WILL KEEP WESTERN WASHINGTON
DRY THROUGH THE WEEKEND. THE UPPER RIDGE WILL WEAKEN SUNDAY NIGHT
WITH A TRANSITION TO A WETTER AND MORE TYPICAL WINTER PATTERN MONDAY
THROUGH THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK.

&&

.SHORT TERM...EASTERLY GRADIENT HAS BEGUN TO KICK UP THE WINDS IN
LARGE PARTS OF THE REGION THIS MORNING. RATHER SIGNIFICANT WINDS
OCCURRING NEAR THE FOOTHILLS NEAR THE WEST APPROACHES TO THE PASSES.
HAVE STRONG EASTERLY WINDS ON THE ACARS SOUNDING FROM AROUND 1500
FEET THROUGH 5000 FEET WHICH PEAK AT 45 KNOTS AT 2900 FEET. LOCAL
PROFILER SHOWS 20 KNOTS AS LOW AS 600 FEET 8-13 KNOTS SHOWING UP ON
THE LAKE. THIS FLOW PATTERN TO REMAIN IN PLACE THROUGH SUNDAY WITH
POSSIBLE ENHANCEMENT TONIGHT AND SUNDAY. HAD A STRONG WIND REPORT
THIS MORNING AT ENUMCLAW...BUT IS ON THE HIGH END AT THIS POINT AND
DO NOT WISH TO HIGHLIGHT TODAYS WIND WITH A WARNING AS IT IS
MARGINAL AT BEST AND THERE IS THE POTENTIAL FOR A MORE SIGNIFICANT
EVENT LATER IN THE WEEKEND INTO MONDAY.

ALL THIS TALK OF WIND HAS BROUGHT UP AN ISSUE...A POSITIVE
ONE...WITH RESPECT TO THE AIR STAGNATION ADVISORY. STILL HAVE AN
INVERSION OVERHEAD...HOWEVER IT HAS WEAKENED SIGNIFICANTLY AND THERE
IS A GOOD DEAL OF MIXING DOWN THROUGH/UNDER THE INVERSION THIS IS
EVIDENT IN THE DROP IN DEWPOINTS AND AIR POLLUTION INDICES AT MANY
SITES. THIS MIXING WILL BECOME MORE WIDESPREAD AND A BIT STRONGER
TODAY AS WE CONTINUE TO WARM THE LOW LEVELS AND WEAKEN THE INVERSION
FURTHER. WITH ALL THAT...WILL LET THE AIR STAGNATION ADVISORY EXPIRE
AT NOON.

WILL ADDRESS THE LATER PERIODS THIS AFTERNOON.  AT THIS POINT MAY
UPDATE THE FORECAST JUST AFTER NOON TO REMOVE THE HEADLINE AND TWEAK
THE WIND AND TEMP FORECAST.  CERNIGLIA

.LONG TERM...FROM PREVIOUS...WONT MAKE ANY CHANGES TO THE EXTENDED
FORECAST. THE LONGER RANGE MODELS AGREE THAT AN UPPER RIDGE WILL BE
AROUND 120W... AND ADDITIONAL SHORTWAVES WILL AFFECT THE AREA --
PROBABLY WEAKLY -- AS THEY MOVE UP THE WEST SIDE OF THE RIDGE. THE
DETAILS OF SMALLER SCALE FEATURES FOR TUE THROUGH FRI ARE HIGHLY
UNCERTAIN THOUGH...AND OUR CURRENT BROAD BRUSH FORECAST FOR THAT
PERIOD LOOKS GOOD. MCDONNAL

&&

.AVIATION...CLEAR SKIES AND STRONG OFFSHORE FLOW. GAP WINDS THRU THE
CASCADES SHOULD REACH SEA TAC AT TIMES TODAY AND ARE JUST NOW INTO
RENTON A LITTLE...SEA-YKM -10MB AND DEW POINTS ARE WAY DOWN SO NO
MORE FOG. KSEA WIND 10012G22KT BY MIDDAY. WINDS ON THE PROFILER HERE
ON LAKE WASHINGTON ARE ESE 30KT AROUND AND ABOVE 1000FT. MM

&&

.SEW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...GALE WARNING WEST ENTRANCE.
    SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY COAST AND CENTRAL STRAIT.
    SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR ROUGH BAR CONDITIONS GRAYS HARBOR BAR.

&&

.KATX...VCP32/CSR32 OPERATIONAL.

&&

In the hours before

Local storm report, Dec 17, 2:28 PM PST, 2 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA
228 PM PST SAT DEC 17 2005

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0200 PM     HIGH SUST WINDS  4 NNE ENUMCLAW          47.25N 121.93W
12/17/2005  30 MPH           KING               WA   TRAINED SPOTTER

            NNE 30 MPH. PEAK WIND 44 MPH. SNAPPED TREES.

&&

JHOLCOMBE

Event by event

1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, C King/C Pierce/X Ne Thurston/C Lewis

When: December 17, 2:30 PM PST to December 18, 1:00 PM PST
Where: C King/C Pierce/X Ne Thurston/C Lewis forecast zone
Measured: 56 kt (64 mph) measured gust
Property damage: $300,000
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 2005 Every state in 2005 This day in weather history Warnings in Washington, December 2005

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: 5485288.