High wind occurred on the coast, over the northwest interior, and in the Olympic Mountains.
Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
High wind occurred on the coast, over the northwest interior, and in the Olympic Mountains.
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 11, 2:00 AM PST, 1 hour earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA
300 AM PDT SUN MAR 11 2012
.SYNOPSIS...A COOL UPPER TROUGH WILL BRING SHOWERS TO WESTERN
WASHINGTON TODAY WITH SNOW IN THE MOUNTAINS. A VIGOROUS FRONTAL
SYSTEM WILL AFFECT THE AREA LATE TONIGHT THROUGH MONDAY. LOCALLY
DAMAGING WINDS ARE POSSIBLE...ESPECIALLY AT THE COAST...AND LOTS
MORE SNOW WILL FALL IN THE MOUNTAINS. AN ACTIVE WEATHER PATTERN WILL
CONTINUE THROUGH NEXT WEEK.
&&
.SHORT TERM...A FRONTAL SYSTEM IS MOVING THROUGH THE PACIFIC
NORTHWEST EARLY THIS MORNING...AHEAD OF A DEEP UPPER LEVEL TROUGH
OFFSHORE ALONG 130W. STEADY RAIN IS GIVING WAY TO SHOWERY
CONDITIONS...IT IS BREEZY ACROSS MUCH OF WESTERN WASHINGTON BUT
THERE ARE NO REAL STRONG WINDS...AND TEMPERATURES ARE MAINLY IN THE
40S.
THE UPPER TROUGH AXIS...EXTENDING SOUTHEAST FROM A 4990 METER UPPER
LOW IN THE GULF OF ALASKA...WILL REACH THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST COAST
LATE THIS MORNING AND SWING INLAND THIS AFTERNOON. A COOL MOIST AND
WEAKLY UNSTABLE AIR MASS WILL ACCOMPANY THE TROUGH. SHOWERS WILL
CONTINUE TODAY WITH THE SNOW LEVEL FALLING TO 1500 TO 2000 FT. THE
TEMPERATURES WE HAD AT MIDNIGHT WILL PROBABLY BE THE DAYTIME HIGHS.
LOCALLY BREEZY CONDITIONS WILL CONTINUE. ANOTHER 3 TO 7 INCHES OF
SNOW WILL FALL IN THE MOUNTAINS...AND THE SNOW ADVISORY WILL
CONTINUE THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON.
THERE WILL BE A RELATIVE LULL IN THE ACTION THIS EVENING AND THEN --
AS WE HAVE BEEN FORECASTING FOR THE PAST SEVERAL DAYS -- A VIGOROUS
FRONTAL SYSTEM WILL AFFECT WESTERN WASHINGTON LATER TONIGHT THROUGH
MONDAY NIGHT. A 120 KT NORTHWESTERLY JET NOW CROSSING 150W WILL MOVE
INTO THE BASE OF THE DEEP UPPER TROUGH OFFSHORE LATER TODAY...
CAUSING THE FRONTAL WAVE TO DEVELOP QUICKLY. ITS SURFACE LOW WILL
BOMB FROM AROUND 990 MB THIS AFTERNOON TO 962 MB MONDAY MORNING AS
IT CURLS NORTHEAST ACROSS THE WASHINGTON OFFSHORE WATERS TO THE
NORTH END OF VANCOUVER ISLAND.
THIS LOOKS LIKE A FAIRLY CLASSIC VERSION OF WHAT WE REFER TO AS A
SOUTHEAST SUCKER...WITH A GOOD CHANCE OF STRONG (IE 40 MPH SUSTAINED
AND 60 MPH GUSTS) SOUTHEAST WINDS ALONG THE COAST AND IN SOME OF THE
NORTHWEST INTERIOR ZONES...ESPECIALLY WHIDBEY ISLAND AND THE SAN
JUANS...LATE TONIGHT AND MONDAY MORNING. WINDS IN THE GREATER
EVERETT SEATTLE TACOMA AREA WILL NOT BE ESPECIALLY STRONG...THOUGH
STRONG GUSTY WINDS OVER THE EAST PUGET SOUND LOWLANDS NEAR THE
CASCADES ARE POSSIBLE. A HIGH WIND WATCH IS ALREADY IN EFFECT
COVERING THIS SCENARIO...WHICH I WILL UPDATE THIS MORNING.
THIS STORM WILL ALSO BRING LOTS OF SNOW TO THE MOUNTAINS BEGINNING
TONIGHT AS THE LEADING EDGE OF PRECIPITATION ARRIVES...THEN
ESPECIALLY WITH THE FRONT MONDAY AND CONTINUING BEHIND THE FRONT
MONDAY NIGHT. SNOW TOTALS FOR THE 36-HOUR PERIOD SHOULD RANGE FROM 1
TO 2 FT...AND THE SNOW LEVEL WILL BE MOSTLY 1500 FT OR LOWER. WHEN I
UPDATE THE STATEMENT THIS MORNING FOR THE ADVISORY ALREADY IN
EFFECT...I WILL ADD ON A WINTER STORM WARNING FOR TONIGHT THROUGH
MONDAY NIGHT FOR THE CASCADES.
FINALLY...SEAS ARE EXPECTED TO BUILD TO 18 TO 22 FT ON MONDAY...
RESULTING IN HIGH SURF CONDITIONS ON THE COAST AS WELL AS RAISING
THE POTENTIAL FOR LOCALIZED COASTAL FLOODING.
THE UPPER TROUGH FOLLOWING THE FRONT WILL LOWER THE SNOW LEVEL TO
AROUND 500 FT TUESDAY MORNING...WITH SHOWERS CONTINUING ACROSS
WESTERN WASHINGTON. SO SNOW SHOWERS ARE POSSIBLE LATE MONDAY NIGHT
AND TUESDAY OVER THE HIGHER TERRAIN OF THE WESTERN WASHINGTON
LOWLANDS...BUT ACCUMULATIONS ON ROADWAYS LOOKS UNLIKELY. MCDONNAL
.LONG TERM...A GENERALLY COOL WET AND ACTIVE PATTERN WILL CONTINUE
FOR THE EXTENDED FORECAST PERIOD WEDNESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY. WHEN WE
HAVE A SERIES OF QUICK-MOVING FEATURES LIKE THIS...THE TIMING IS
ALWAYS UNCERTAIN IN THE LONGER RANGE. HOWEVER IT LOOKS LIKE ANOTHER
FAIRLY VIGOROUS FRONTAL SYSTEM WILL MOVE THROUGH WEDNESDAY AND
WEDNESDAY NIGHT...FOLLOWED QUICKLY BY ANOTHER THURSDAY AND THURSDAY
NIGHT. IT WILL BE RAINY AND BREEZY TO WINDY IN THE LOWLANDS...WITH
LOTS MORE SNOW IN THE MOUNTAINS.
THE GFS...EUROPEAN...AND CANADIAN MODELS ALL AGREE ROUGHLY THAT A
COOL UPPER TROUGH WILL MOVE OVER THE REGION FRIDAY THROUGH THE
WEEKEND. THAT WOULD MEAN A COOL AND SHOWERY PERIOD...PROBABLY WITH
SOME SUNNY BREAKS. MCDONNAL
&&
.HYDROLOGY...FLOODING IS NOT EXPECTED DURING THE NEXT 7 DAYS.
MCDONNAL
&&
.AVIATION...AN UPPER TROF WILL MOVE ACROSS THE AREA TODAY. SW FLOW
ALOFT BECOMING WLY. CONTINUED LOW LEVEL ONSHORE FLOW. THE AIR MASS
WILL BE SLIGHTLY UNSTABLE TODAY BUT THE RISK OF ANY TSTMS WILL
LIKELY BE CONFINED TO THE COASTAL WATERS.
CIGS WILL CONTINUE TO BOUNCE AROUND THIS MORNING AND WILL REMAIN A
FORECAST CHALLENGE. EXPECTING CIGS TO BE MAINLY IN THE 3-5K FT RANGE
THIS MORNING WITH AREAS OF CIGS IN THE 1-2K FT RANGE. CIGS SHOULD
LIFT OVERALL THIS AFTERNOON.
KSEA...CIGS WILL CONTINUE TO BE THE MAIN PROBLEM THIS MORNING. CIGS
SHOULD BE IN THE 1-3K FT RANGE THIS MORNING BUT WITH OCCASIONAL CIGS
OF 700-900 FT. ANTICIPATE VFR CONDITIONS OR CIGS AT OR ABOVE 5K FT
THIS AFTERNOON.
&&
.MARINE...
ONSHORE OR SOUTHERLY FLOW WILL PREVAIL ACROSS THE AREA TODAY. THE
FLOW WILL BACK TONIGHT AS AN INTENSIFYING SURFACE LOW APPROACHES THE
OFFSHORE WATERS FROM THE SW. THIS LOW WILL STRENGTHEN TO 963 MB AS
IT RACES TOWARD NORTHERN VANCOUVER ISLAND ON MON. EXPECT THIS SYSTEM
TO BRING THE POTENTIAL FOR STORM WINDS OVER THE COASTAL WATERS AND W
ENTRANCE TO THE STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA...AND GALE FORCE WINDS
ELSEWHERE. SEAS MAY ALSO BECOME CHAOTIC ON THE COASTAL WATERS ON
MON...RESULTING IN HAZARDOUS CONDITIONS FOR VESSELS AT SEA.
&&
.SEW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
WA...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY OLYMPICS AND CASCADES TIL 4PM
SUNDAY.
HIGH WIND WATCH FOR THE NORTH AND CENTRAL COAST...
THE ADMIRALTY INLET AREA AND THE SAN JUANS FOR LATE SUNDAY
NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY AFTERNOON.
HIGH WIND WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF THE EAST PUGET SOUND LOWLANDS
LATE SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY MORNING.
PZ...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORIES ARE IN EFFECT FOR THE COASTAL WATERS...
WESTERN/CENTRAL STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA...NORTHERN INLAND
WATERS...AND PUGET SOUND/HOOD CANAL TODAY.
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR ROUGH BAR UNTIL 6 PM PDT MONDAY
FOR THE GRAYS HARBOR BAR.
GALE WARNING IN EFFECT FOR THE COASTAL WATERS...ENTRANCES
TO THE STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA...NORTHERN INLAND WATERS...
AND ADMIRALTY INLET TONIGHT.
STORM WATCH FROM MONDAY MORNING THROUGH MONDAY AFTERNOON FOR
THE COASTAL WATERS AND WEST ENTRANCE TO THE STRAIT OF JUAN
DE FUCA.
GALE WATCH FROM MONDAY MORNING THROUGH MONDAY AFTERNOON
FOR THE CENTRAL STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA AND PUGET SOUND/HOOD
CANAL.
YOU CAN SEE AN ILLUSTRATED VERSION OF THE FORECAST DISCUSSION AT
WWW.WEATHER.GOV/SEATTLE/GAFD/LATEST_WEBAFD.HTML.The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
6 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Wind equipment on Hurricane Ridge recorded sustained wind of 53 mph with gusts to 87 mph over several hours.
Several different observing sites in western Whatcom county had sustained wind up to 43 mph with gusts up to 64 mph.
Freeland had 40 mph sustained wind.
Destruction Island, a C-MAN off the north coast, recorded sustained wind of 50+ KT. This corresponds to gusts of 58 mph on the mainland.
The tide gauge at Westport recorded a 60 mph gust.
Lopez Island had sustained wind 45 mph.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Washington in 2012Every state in 2012This day in weather historyWarnings in Washington, March 2012
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: 361437, 361440, 361439, 361436, 361435, 361438.