Brief high wind in the Admiralty Inlet area. The ferry service between Port Townsend and Whidbey Island was shut down.
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.
The episode as NWS SEW wrote it up.
Brief high wind in the Admiralty Inlet area. The ferry service between Port Townsend and Whidbey Island was shut down.
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 Jan 4, 3:20 PM PST, 40 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA 320 PM PST SUN JAN 4 2009 .SYNOPSIS...A STRONG PACIFIC STORM WILL BRING RAIN AND HEAVY MOUNTAIN SNOW TONIGHT. PRECIPITATION OVER MANY LOWLAND AREAS WILL START AS A RAIN AND SNOW MIX OR AS SNOW BEFORE CHANGING TO ALL RAIN BY MIDNIGHT. GUSTY WINDS WILL DEVELOP TONIGHT. MONDAY WILL BE SHOWERY. ANOTHER POTENT AND WET STORM WILL BRING SIGNIFICANT RAINFALL...AS WELL AS RISING SNOW LEVELS...TO THE AREA MIDWEEK. && .SHORT TERM...CERTAIN AREAS HAVE BECOME WINDY ALREADY BUT OTHERS REMAIN DEAD CALM. KBLI CONTINUES TO SHOW A NORTH WIND. IT APPEARS THAT SOME AREAS SIMPLY WILL NOT GET ANY WIND OR SCOURING ACTION THIS EVENING BEFORE THE PRECIPITATION BEGINS. THEREFORE WILL ISSUE MORE WINTER WEATHER ADVISORIES. FOR NOW WILL LIMIT THESE TO A RING OF ZONES MAINLY AWAY FROM THE WATER. COULD GET 1-3 INCHES IN THESE ZONES...HIGHER NEAR THE MOUNTAINS. ZONES NEAR PUGET SOUND AND THE OCEAN AND THE STRAIT WILL PROBABLY SEE SOME SNOW AS WELL...BUT THE WIND HAS KICKED IN IN THESE ZONES AND ACCUMULATIONS SHOULD BE LESS THAN AN INCH. IT IS A PLAN ANYWAY. SNOW OR MIXED RAIN AND SNOW SHOULD CHANGE TO ALL RAIN LATE THIS EVENING IN SOME ZONES...AFTER MIDNIGHT IN OTHERS. THE SNOW LEVEL WILL RISE TO 3000 FEET OR SO LATE TONIGHT THEN FALL BACK TO 2000 FEET MONDAY. THE MOUNTAINS WILL GET POUNDED. THERE WILL BE HEAVY SNOW IN BOTH THE CASCADES AND OLYMPICS THAT WILL LAST INTO TUESDAY MORNING...BRINGING 2 OR 3 FEET OF NEW SNOW. IT WILL BE A WET TIME ELSEWHERE...WITH CATEGORICAL POPS IN THE FIRST SIX OR SEVEN PERIODS OF THE FORECAST. BREEZY OR WINDY AT TIMES TOO. TEMPERATURES SHOULD REMAIN WELL ABOVE FREEZING AT LEAST...THERE IS NO THREAT OF LOWLAND SNOW ON THE HORIZON AFTER TONIGHT. BURKE .LONG TERM...HAVE HAD LITTLE TIME TO LOOK AT THE EXTENDED. HOWEVER ALL THE RAIN IS GOING TO HAVE AN EFFECT ON THE RIVERS STARTING ABOUT MIDWEEK. SEE HYDROLOGY DISCUSSION BELOW. AT THIS POINT IT APPEARS THERE WILL BE SOME RIDGE BUILDING AND DRYING STARTING ABOUT THURSDAY NIGHT AND CONTINUING INTO THE WEEKEND. HAVE MODIFIED THE FORECAST TO JUST HAVE CHANCE POPS DURING THIS TIME. BURKE && .HYDROLOGY...PREVIOUS DISCUSSION...A POTENT AND VERY WET STORM IS ANTICIPATED TO BRING RISING SNOW LEVELS AND A PERIOD OF HEAVY RAINFALL TO THE CWA ABOUT MIDWEEK. THE FRONTAL BOUNDARY ASSOCIATED WITH THIS SYSTEM IS EXPECTED TO HANG UP OVER THE AREA. THIS COMBINED WITH STRONG 850 MB FLOW WILL RESULT IN SIGNIFICANT RAINFALL ACROSS THE SW FACING SLOPES OF THE OLYMPICS AND CASCADES. RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 3 TO 6 INCHES IS POSSIBLE ON THE COAST AND IN THE CASCADES DURING THE TUE NIGHT THROUGH WED NIGHT TIME FRAME...WITH 8 TO 12 INCHES POSSIBLE ON THE SW FACING SLOPES OF THE CASCADES. THIS AMOUNT OF RAINFALL WOULD DRIVE MANY AREA RIVERS ABOVE FLOOD STAGE. THIS SITUATION BEARS CLOSE MONITORING. && .AVIATION...RAIN...SNOW AND MIXED WITH CIGS 1500-2000 FT STARTING ALONG COAST AT 23Z...EXPECTED ARRIVAL PUGET SOUND REGION AROUND 00-01Z. CEILINGS LOWERING TONIGHT AHEAD OF THE FRONTAL PASSAGE WITH WIDESPREAD CEILINGS 1000 TO 2000 FEET AND LOCAL VISIBILITIES 2-4SM WITH MODERATE RAIN RIGHT AHEAD OF THE FRONT 03Z-09Z. BACK EDGE OF FRONT REACHING THE COAST AROUND 06Z...KSEA 09Z...CASCADES 12Z. WINDY CONDITIONS DEVELOPING AT THE SURFACE AND ALOFT AHEAD OF THE FRONT. WINDS AT 5000 FEET 00Z-06Z TONIGHT SOUTHERLY 40 TO 60 KNOTS. KSEA...CEILING DOWN TO 5000 FEET OVC WITH SCT DECK 2000 FEET AT 23Z. EXPECT CIGS TO CONTINUE TO LOWER DOWN TO 1000 TO 2000 FEET WITH POSSIBLE VISIBILITY 2-4SM IN RAIN OR MIXED RAIN AND SNOW 06Z-10Z. SOUTHERLY WIND 6 TO 8 KNOTS INCREASING TO 10 TO 15 KNOTS WITH HIGHER GUSTS AFTER 00Z. WINDS AT 5000 FEET STILL FORECAST SOUTHERLY 40-60 KNOTS 00Z-09Z. PRANGE && .MARINE...GALE WARNINGS POSTED FOR ALL ZONES AS A STRONG FRONT MOVED ACROSS THE COASTAL WATERS THIS AFTERNOON AND WILL MOVE INLAND TONIGHT. BACK EDGE OF FRONT TIMED TO REACH THE COAST AROUND 06Z AND MOVE THROUGH THE INLAND WATERS AROUND 09Z. STRONGEST WINDS WILL BE JUST AHEAD OF THE FRONT FOR MOST ZONES. GALE FORCE WESTERLIES EXPECTED BEHIND THE FRONT THROUGH THE STRAIT AND EAST ENTRANCE LATE TONIGHT INTO MONDAY. WINDS EASING LATER MONDAY INTO TUESDAY. GALES POSSIBLE AGAIN WITH ANOTHER SYSTEM ON WEDNESDAY. PRANGE && .SEW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WA...WINTER STORM WARNING FOR THE OLYMPICS AND CASCADES. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR WESTERN WHATCOM COUNTY...WESTERN SKAGIT COUNTY...HOOD CANAL...SOUTHWEST INTERIOR...AND LOWER CHEHALIS VALLEY. WIND ADVISORY NORTHWEST INTERIOR AND WESTERN STRAIT. PZ...GALE WARNING ALL WATERS. SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR ROUGH GRAYS HARBOR BAR. WEATHER.GOV/SEATTLE
2 strong wind, 1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Brief high wind occurred in the Admiralty Inlet zone. A wind advisory was in effect. The ferry service between Port Townsend and Whidbey Island was shut down. A shed was crushed by a fallen tree near Highway 20. There were isolated power outages.
Several power poles and transformers were damaged from strong wind.
Several power poles and transformers were damaged from strong wind.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Washington in 2009Every state in 2009This day in weather historyWarnings in Washington, January 2009
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: 148712, 149915, 149916.