High Wind in Washington, January 11, 2014

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA
300 PM PST SAT JAN 11 2014

.SYNOPSIS...A STRONG PACIFIC STORM WILL BRING WINDY CONDITIONS AND
RAIN TO WESTERN WASHINGTON TODAY...ALONG WITH HEAVY SNOW IN THE
MOUNTAINS. A WEAKER FRONTAL SYSTEM WILL BRING MORE WET AND WINDY
WEATHER ON SUNDAY. DRIER WEATHER IS IN STORE NEXT WEEK AS A RIDGE
MOVES INLAND.

&&

.SHORT TERM...A STRONG WEATHER SYSTEM IS NEARLY DONE MOVING THROUGH
THE AREA. HIGH WIND IS LIKELY FOR A FEW MORE HOURS ON THE COAST.
SURFACE FLOW WILL TURN ONSHORE THIS EVENING AND STRONG WEST WIND
WILL OCCUR IN THE STRAIT. THE LAND AREAS AT THE EAST END OF THE
STRAIT IN THE ADMIRALTY INLET AREA WILL GET SOME MORE HIGH WIND
TONIGHT. MOST OTHER AREAS WILL BE WINDY TONIGHT AND THE WIND
ADVISORY WILL STAY IN FORCE UNTIL 1 AM. SO FAR WIND HAS REMAINED
BELOW THE HIGH WIND CRITERIA OF SUSTAINED 40 MPH OR GUSTS OF 58 MPH
OVER THE AREAS THAT DO NOT HAVE A WARNING. WILL KEEP WATCHING.

THERE HAVE BEEN ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS TODAY AND THESE WILL CONTINUE
INTO THE EVENING. MOST ARE NEAR THE COAST BUT THERE HAVE BEEN A FEW
RUMBLES OF THUNDER INLAND...ALONG WITH SMALL HAIL.

IT IS NOW SNOWING AT ALL MOUNTAIN SITES IN THE CASCADES. HEAVY SNOW
WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE NIGHT AND INTO SUNDAY. HAVE EXTENDED THE
WINTER STORM WARNING THROUGH SUNDAY AFTERNOON. TOTAL SNOW WHEN IT
FINALLY TAPERS WILL BE 18 INCHES TO 3 FEET...WITH THE HIGHEST
AMOUNTS ON THE VOLCANOES.

COASTAL FLOODING...BIG WAVES ARE STILL ON TRACK TO REACH THE COAST
TONIGHT. IT APPEARS THE BIGGEST WAVES...25-28 FEET...WILL NOT
COINCIDE WITH THE HIGHEST HIGH TIDES WHICH ARE IN THE MORNING. THE
PLAN IS TO CONTINUE WITH A HIGH SURF WARNING FOR THE BEACHES AND A
COASTAL FLOOD ADVISORY FOR WAVES OCCASIONALLY OVERTOPPING THE LEVEES
AND PUTTING A LITTLE WATER IN THE STREETS OF WESTPORT AND OCEAN
SHORES.

CONDITIONS WILL REMAIN WET AND SOMEWHAT WINDY THROUGH SUNDAY
NIGHT...THEN HIGH PRESSURE WILL BEGIN TO BUILD AT THE SURFACE ON
MONDAY. STILL HAVE A CHANCE OF SHOWERS ON MONDAY BUT SHOWERS COULD
BE LIMITED TO THE MOUNTAINS. TUESDAY LOOKS DRY AS AN UPPER LEVEL
RIDGE BUILDS. HAVE LIMITED THE SHOWER CHANCE TO THE MOUNTAINS. BURKE

.LONG TERM...A DRY PERIOD WITH SOME SUN WILL CONTINUE WEDNESDAY
THROUGH FRIDAY. THE NEXT SYSTEM MOVES INTO THE COASTAL WATERS FRIDAY
AND MAY MOVE INLAND ON SATURDAY. BURKE

&&

.HYDROLOGY...HEAVY RAIN HAS ENDED AND RIVERS ARE RECEDING. THE
STILLAGUAMISH AT ARLINGTON CRESTED JUST ABOVE FLOOD STAGE AROUND
NOON AND THE WARNING THERE WILL END IN A FEW HOURS. THE SKOKOMISH
RIVER IS WELL ABOVE FLOOD STAGE AND IS LIKELY TO REMAIN THERE FOR A
DAY OR SO. THE BOGACHIEL IS BELOW FLOOD STAGE. THE SATSOP APPEARS
LIKELY TO CREST JUST BELOW FLOOD STAGE.

MORE RAIN IS FORECAST FOR SUNDAY. THIS SYSTEM WILL NOT BE AS WET BUT
COULD KEEP SOME RIVERS RUNNING HIGH FOR AWHILE LONGER. SIGNIFICANTLY
DRIER CONDITIONS ARRIVE BEGINNING ABOUT TUESDAY. BURKE

&&

.AVIATION...A STRONG FRONTAL SYSTEM WILL MOVE INLAND THIS EVENING
WITH WESTERLY FLOW ALOFT TONIGHT. A WEAKER UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE
WILL REACH THE AREA SUNDAY MORNING. AIR MASS MOIST AND UNSTABLE.

KSEA...CEILINGS GENERALLY 3500-5000 FEET TONIGHT BUT THERE WILL BE
SOME LOWER CEILINGS AT TIMES IN SHOWERS. AN ISOLATED THUNDERSTORM IS
POSSIBLE THIS EVENING. LOW CLOUDS AND RAIN EXPECTED TO DEVELOP
SUNDAY MORNING. GUSTY SOUTH WINDS 15 TO 30 MPH WILL EASE AFTER
MIDNIGHT. SCHNEIDER

&&

.MARINE...A STRONG FRONTAL SYSTEM WILL MOVE INLAND TONIGHT. GALES
ALL WATERS WILL EASE LATER TONIGHT. THERE WILL ALSO BE LARGE SWELL
ARRIVING AT THE COAST THIS EVENING WHICH WILL GRADUALLY SUBSIDE
SUNDAY AND MONDAY.

A WEAKER WEATHER SYSTEM WILL MOVE THROUGH THE WATERS SUNDAY. WEAK
HIGH PRESSURE WILL MOVE OVER THE AREA MONDAY AND TUESDAY...THEN
BUILD INTO SOUTHERN BRITISH COLUMBIA WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY WITH
INCREASING LOW LEVEL OFFSHORE FLOW. SCHNEIDER

&&

.SEW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
WA...HIGH WIND WARNING FOR THE NORTH AND CENTRAL COAST AND FOR THE
     ADMIRALTY INLET AREA.
     WIND ADVISORY FOR MOST LOWLAND ZONES.
     WINTER STORM WARNING FOR THE CASCADES.
     WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR THE OLYMPICS.
     HIGH SURF WARNING IN EFFECT FOR THE COAST.
     COASTAL FLOOD ADVISORY IN EFFECT FOR THE COAST.
PZ...GALE WARNING ALL WATERS.
     SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY GRAYS HARBOR FOR ROUGH BAR.

&&

YOU CAN SEE AN ILLUSTRATED VERSION OF THE FORECAST DISCUSSION AT
WWW.WEATHER.GOV/SEATTLE/GAFD/LATEST_WEBAFD.HTML

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA
330 PM PST SAT JAN 11 2014

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

0329 PM     NON-TSTM WND GST 5 SSE DEMING            48.76N 122.18W
01/11/2014  M51 MPH          WHATCOM            WA   TRAINED SPOTTER

            BETWEEN 6 AND 9 AM THIS MORNING. 1.5 INCHES OF RAIN IN 24
            HOURS.

&&

GRUB