High Wind and Strong Wind in Washington, March 8, 2006

Name: High Wind and Strong Wind in Washington, March 8, 2006
Start: 2006-03-08T13:30
End: 2006-03-08T20:00
Location: Washington

March 8, 2006 · NWS SEW · 3 events in 3 counties and zones

High winds knocked out power to about 25,000 homes in Grays Harbor county. About 11,000 customers from Everett to Whidbey island also lost power.

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $550,000
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.

High winds knocked out power to about 25,000 homes in Grays Harbor county. About 11,000 customers from Everett to Whidbey island also lost power. Several trees fell, most onto roads or power lines, one tree fell on a home in Montesano.

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 8, 8:45 AM PST, 4 hours 45 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 8, 8:45 AM PST, 4 hours 45 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA
845 AM PST WED MAR 8 2006

.SYNOPSIS...A STRONG FRONT WILL BRING RAIN AND WIND TO THE LOWLANDS
AND HEAVY SNOW TO THE MOUNTAINS TODAY. SNOW LEVELS WILL DECREASE
SHARPLY BEHIND THE FRONT TONIGHT. SNOW OR MIXED RAIN AND SNOW MAY
FALL OVER THE LOWLANDS TONIGHT AND THURSDAY NIGHT. CONDITIONS WILL
BEGIN TO DRY OVER THE WEEKEND.

&&

.SHORT TERM...LOCAL WET SNOW HAS ENDED...JUST RAIN EVERYWHERE. NICE
VIGOROUS SYSTEM ON TRACK FOR RAIN IN THE LOWLANDS AND HEAVY SNOW IN
THE MOUNTAINS. WARNINGS UP AND LOOK FINE. WIND COULD BE A PROBLEM
BUT EXPECT ANY HIGH WIND TO BE MARGINAL AND WILL KEEP WATCH GOING
UNTIL SOME REPORTS OF HIGH WIND ARRIVE. BURKE

.LONG TERM...PREVIOUS DISCUSSION...OUR REGION WILL BE UNDER THE
INFLUENCE OF A LARGE...BROAD AND COLD UPPER TROF FRIDAY THROUGH
SUNDAY. THERE ARE NO SIGNIFICANT FEATURES WITHIN THIS SYSTEM TO GRAB
ONTO AND IT WILL SLOWLY SLIDE SOUTH THROUGH THE PERIOD. THEREFORE
CURRENT FORECAST OF CHANCE OF SHOWERS FRIDAY...THEN SLOW DRYING OVER
THE WEEKEND WITH COOL TEMPS LOOKS GOOD. FOR THE BEGINNING OF THE
COMING WEEK...WELL GRAB THE COIN. MODELS HAVING A HARD TIME DEALING
WITH SOUTHERN STREAM ENERGY TRYING TO BREAK UNDER THE ALASKAN HIGH.
OVERALL EXPECTING SLIGHTLY COOLER THAN NORMAL TEMPS...BUT COULD BE
DRY OR COULD BE A BIT WET. DONT LOCK IN YOUR OUTDOOR PLANS FOR MON
AND TUE JUST YET.  CERNIGLIA

&&

.AVIATION...MOSTLY MVFR WITH LCL IFR CONDITIONS TODAY. FROPA WILL
REACH PUGET SOUND AROUND 00Z OR 4PM. WINDS WILL INCREASE TO AROUND
FROPA...AND NOT DECREASE TIL THE PSCZ SETS UP THIS EVENING. FOR KSEA
18020G30KT BY MIDDAY...A LITTLE STRONGER AROUND 00Z. PRECIP TYPE
SHOULD BE MOSTLY RAIN SHOWERS THIS EVENING EXCEPT SNOW POSSIBLE IN
THE PSCZ. SHOULD BECOME RATHER UNSTABLE BEHIND THE FRONT SO MAY HAVE
TO ADD ISOLD THUNDERSTORMS WITH ICE PELLETS TO THE TWEBS FOR THE
EVENING HOURS...IT WILL BE COLDER ALOFT THAN YESTERDAY AND WE HAD A
COUPLE STRIKES AND SOME ICE PELLETS YESTERDAY SO SHOULD BE A GOOD
BET TONIGHT.  MM

&&

.MARINE...CURRENT FORECASTS LOOK VERY GOOD...NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES
AT ALL.

&&

.WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
WINTER STORM WARNING CASCADES AND OLYMPICS THROUGH TONIGHT.
HIGH WIND WATCH COAST...STRAIT...NW INTERIOR...N HOOD CANAL...
ADMIRALTY INLET AREA...EVERETT AND VICINITY INTO THIS EVENING.
HIGH SURF ADVISORY COAST FOR LATE TONIGHT AND THU.
GALE WARNING ALL WATERS.

WEATHER.GOV/SEATTLE

Event by event

2 high wind, 1 strong wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Central Coast

When: March 8, 1:30 PM PST to 8:00 PM PST
Where: Central Coast forecast zone
Measured: 59 kt (68 mph) measured gust
Property damage: $500,000
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

High Wind, Admiralty Inlet Area

When: March 8, 1:30 PM PST to 8:00 PM PST
Where: Admiralty Inlet Area forecast zone
Measured: 37 kt (43 mph) measured sustained
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Strong Wind, Everett and Vicinity

When: March 8, 1:30 PM PST to 8:00 PM PST
Where: Everett and Vicinity forecast zone
Measured: 39 kt (45 mph) measured gust
Property damage: $50,000
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

What these are

High Wind: Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.
Strong Wind: Non-thunderstorm winds below high wind criteria that nonetheless caused damage or casualties.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Washington in 2006 Every state in 2006 This day in weather history Warnings in Washington, March 2006

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: 5494784, 5494785, 5494786.