A deep low moved NE across northwest Washington. Strong southerly wind developed over the interior, with strong onshore flow on the coast.
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.
A deep low moved NE across northwest Washington. Strong southerly wind developed over the interior, with strong onshore flow on the coast. High wind reports were scattered, but a few hundred thousand people lost power in the Seattle area.
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 Nov 2, 1:45 AM PST, 5 hours 55 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA
245 AM PDT SAT NOV 2 2013
.SYNOPSIS...A STRONG FRONTAL SYSTEM WILL MOVE INLAND ACROSS WESTERN
WASHINGTON THIS MORNING...BRINGING WET AND WINDY WEATHER TO THE AREA
TODAY. POST-FRONTAL SHOWERY WEATHER WILL FOLLOW TONIGHT AND SUNDAY.
ADDITIONAL WEATHER SYSTEMS WILL MOVE THROUGH THE AREA NEXT WEEK.
&&
.SHORT TERM...A STRONG FRONTAL SYSTEM WILL MOVE ONSHORE TODAY. THE
MAIN STORY WILL BE WIND AS A DEEPENING SURFACE LOW MOVES ONSHORE
SOMEWHERE OVER NORTHWEST WASHINGTON THIS MORNING. THERE WILL BE
BREEZY TO WINDY SOUTHERLY WINDS AHEAD OF THE FRONT THIS MORNING BUT
THE STRONGEST WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO BE BEHIND THE FRONT LATE THIS
MORNING THROUGH EARLY THIS EVENING. HIGHS WINDS ARE POSSIBLE FOR A
NUMBER OF ZONES IN THE STRONG SOUTHWEST TO WEST FLOW BEHIND THE
FRONT. THE GFS IS STRONGER THAN THE NAM WITH THE WIND FORECAST FOR
TODAY AND IS THE PREFERRED MODEL.
A SECONDARY CONCERN WITH THIS SYSTEM IS SNOW IN THE MOUNTAINS. SNOW
LEVELS WILL DROP SHARPLY BEHIND THE FRONT LATE THIS MORNING...
LOWERING TO 2500-3000 FEET THIS EVENING. SHOWERY WEATHER WILL
CONTINUE OVER THE MOUNTAINS IN MOIST UNSTABLE POST FRONTAL ONSHORE
FLOW. THE PASSES LOOK LIKE THEY WILL GET ADVISORY AMOUNTS AND THE
VOLCANOES COULD APPROACH WARNING AMOUNTS BUT WILL PROBABLY FALL A
LITTLE SHORT.
SUNDAY WILL BE A RELATIVELY DRY AND QUIET WEATHER DAY WITH NORTHWEST
FLOW ALOFT AND SOME LINGERING SHOWERS...MAINLY OVER THE MOUNTAINS. A
WARM FRONTAL SYSTEM COULD SPREAD SOME RAIN INTO THE AREA LATER
MONDAY. SCHNEIDER
.LONG TERM...A WEAKENING WARM FRONTAL SYSTEM WILL MOVE THROUGH THE
AREA MONDAY NIGHT AND TUESDAY...BRINGING A LITTLE RAIN. A STRONGER
SYSTEM WILL REACH THE AREA WEDNESDAY OR THURSDAY WITH THE ECMWF 6-12
HOURS SLOWER THAN THE GEM AND GFS. DRIER NORTHWESTERLY FLOW ALOFT
WILL PREVAIL ON FRIDAY. SCHNEIDER
&&
.HYDROLOGY...FLOODING IS UNLIKELY WITH THIS STORM. THE SYSTEM IS
FAST MOVING AND MOST PRECIPITATION IN THE MOUNTAINS WILL BE IN THE
FORM OF SNOW...WITH THE SNOW LEVEL FALLING TO 2500 FEET BY SUNDAY
MORNING. MORE SYSTEMS ARRIVE LATER NEXT WEEK BUT NONE LOOK WET
ENOUGH TO CAUSE ANY FLOODING. SCHNEIDER
&&
.AVIATION...SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT OVER WESTERN WASHINGTON EARLY THIS
MORNING...AS A VIGOROUS PACIFIC FRONTAL SYSTEM NEARS THE COAST. THE
SURFACE FRONT WILL MOVE QUICKLY THROUGH WESTERN WASHINGTON THIS
MORNING...AND THE UPPER TROUGH WILL MOVE INTO THE REGION JUST BEHIND
IT. THE TROUGH WILL MOVE EAST OF THE CASCADES TONIGHT. THE AIR MASS
WILL REMAIN MOIST AND BECOME WEAKLY UNSTABLE THIS AFTERNOON.
CONDITIONS HAVE BEEN DETERIORATING EARLY THIS MORNING AS RAIN
INCREASES. THIS TREND WILL CONTINUE WITH CONDITIONS 2-5SM -RA BR
BKN-OVC013 OVC030 BECOMING WIDESPREAD. THERE SHOULD BE IMPROVEMENT
TO BKN-SCT025 BKN-OVC035 AROUND 18Z AS STEADY RAIN TURNS TO SHOWERS
BEHIND THE FRONT.
WINDS WILL RISE TODAY WITH THE ARRIVAL OF THE FRONT AND BEHIND
IT...PEAKING THIS AFTERNOON OR EARLY EVENING. WINDS OF 20-35 KT
GUSTING 40-50 KT WILL BE COMMON ACROSS THE AREA. THE HIGHEST WINDS
WILL PROBABLY OCCUR AT THE COAST...ALONG THE STRAIT OF JUAN DE
FUCA...AND IN THE NORTH INTERIOR. WINDS WILL EASE THIS EVENING
THROUGH TONIGHT AS THE SYSTEM MOVES EAST OF THE REGION.
KSEA...SOUTH WIND 5-10 KT WILL RISE QUICKLY THIS MORNING BECOMING
SOUTHWEST 18-26 KT GUSTING 40 KT. WINDS SHOULD REACH THEIR PEAK
AROUND 22Z. CONDITIONS 3-5SM -RA BR BKN-SCT010 OVC030...IMPROVING TO
TO BKN-SCT025 BKN-OVC035 IN SHOWERS AROUND 18Z. MCDONNAL
&&
.MARINE...A 1003 MB LOW ABOUT 80 NM WEST OF LA PUSH AT 2 AM WILL
DEEPEN TO AROUND 997 MB AS IT CROSSES SOUTH VANCOUVER ISLAND THIS
MORNING. WESTERLY GALES WILL DEVELOP RAPIDLY BEHIND THE LOW AND
CONTINUE THROUGH THIS EVENING...WITH STORM FORCE WINDS LIKELY IN THE
CENTRAL AND EAST STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA. THESE GALE WARNINGS AND
STORM WARNINGS HAVE BEEN IN EFFECT SINCE FRIDAY.
NORTHWEST FLOW WILL GRADUALLY EASE LATE TONIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY
NIGHT. A RELATIVELY WEAK FRONT WILL MOVE THROUGH THE AREA MONDAY
NIGHT...WITH SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY WINDS LIKELY OVER PARTS OF THE
FORECAST AREA. ANOTHER FRONT WILL ARRIVE AROUND WEDNESDAY NIGHT.
A HIGH SURF ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FOR THE NORTH AND CENTRAL COAST.
COMBINED SEAS OF 20-24 FT WILL AFFECT THE COAST STARTING THIS
MORNING...AND SEAS WILL GRADUALLY SUBSIDE TONIGHT.
IT LOOKS LIKE LOW PRESSURE CROSSING WESTERN WASHINGTON TODAY WILL
NOT COINCIDE WITH HIGH TIDE. HOWEVER...HIGH WIND WAVES FROM STRONG
WINDS WILL CONTRIBUTE TO HIGHER TIDAL ANOMALIES. COASTAL FLOODING
STILL LOOKS UNLIKELY...BUT WE WILL CONTINUE TO WATCH IT THROUGH THE
DAY. MCDONNAL
&&
.SEW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
WA...HIGH WIND WARNING UNTIL 8 PM COAST...NORTH INTERIOR...STRAIT OF
JUAN DE FUCA AREA...OLYMPICS...EVERETT AND VICINITY...AND HOOD
CANAL AREA.
.WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 8 PM SEATTLE/BREMERTON AREA...TACOMA
AREA...SOUTHWEST INTERIOR...EAST PUGET SOUND LOWLANDS...AND
LOWER CHEHALIS VALLEY AREA.
.WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY ABOVE 2500 FEET THIS AFTERNOON AND
TONIGHT FOR THE NORTH AND CENTRAL CASCADES.
PZ...STORM WARNING CENTRAL AND EAST STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA.
GALE WARNING ALL OTHER ZONES.
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR ROUGH GRAYS HARBOR BAR.
&&
YOU CAN SEE AN ILLUSTRATED VERSION OF THE FORECAST DISCUSSION AT
WWW.WEATHER.GOV/SEATTLE/GAFD/LATEST_WEBAFD.HTML5 high wind, 1 strong wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Destruction Island and the La Push tide gauge both had high wind for a few hours.
The Westport tide gauge had sustained 40+ mph wind off and on for around 10 hours.
The KNUW ASOS reported a peak gust of 66 mph.
Cherry Point and Sandy Point Shores had a few hours of sustained wind 40 mph or more.
The KSEA ASOS reported a peak gust of 59 mph. The Evergreen Point floating bridge was closed for a few hours as motorists abandoned their vehicles and attempted to walk (or run) off the bridge.
At Cortright Creek Trailhead, Packwood, a hunter was in his tent when the top of an old growth snapped due to the high winds and fell onto the tent from approximately 100 feet high. The tree top struck the tent, hitting the hunter directly in the head causing fatal injury.
As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.
| Event | Date | Age | Sex | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strong Wind, West Slopes Central Cascades and Passes | 2013-11-02 | 69 | Male | Under Tree | Direct |
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Washington in 2013Every state in 2013This day in weather historyWarnings in Washington, November 2013
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: 478763, 478767, 478760, 478758, 478769, 482200.