A powerful autumn wind storm rolled through most of Western Washington Saturday evening, bringing wind gusts of 50-60 mph and knocking out power to over 150,000 people. | Most wind speeds have reported gusts in the 45-55 mph range around the Puget Sound region, but a few places near the water bested 60 mph.
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 powerful autumn wind storm rolled through most of Western Washington Saturday evening, bringing wind gusts of 50-60 mph and knocking out power to over 150,000 people. | Most wind speeds have reported gusts in the 45-55 mph range around the Puget Sound region, but a few places near the water bested 60 mph. | Both the 520 Bridge and the lighthouse at Alki Beach reported a gust of 61 mph while a Washington State Ferry reported a gust of 52 mph as the ferry reached the edge of Elliott Bay. | The 61 mph gust and continued gusts over 50 mph forced the temporary closure of the 520 Bridge, but it reopened about 30 minutes later. | There were unofficial spotter reports of a 66 mph gust in Normandy Park and 64 mph in Burien. | In Seattle, a bicyclist was injured when he was struck by a falling branch at 1st and Madison in Downtown. He was taken to Harborview Medical Center for treatment of head and shoulder injuries. | A tree toppled across 2nd and Pine in Downtown Seattle. Puyallup Police warned their area had several trees down, including 14th St. SE and E. Pioneer and the 400 block of 13 St. SE. Numerous other reports of trees down are scattered across the region. |A sailor died when his boat capsized.|HQM 59 mph, SEA 49 mph, Yelm 55 mph. NUW 51 mph.
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 Oct 25, 2:30 PM PST, 4 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA
330 PM PDT SAT OCT 25 2014
CORRECTED DATE.
.SYNOPSIS...A DEEP LOW WILL REACH THE COAST LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND
THEN FILL AS IT MOVES NORTHEAST. RAIN AND VERY WINDY CONDITIONS WILL
OCCUR THIS EVENING OVER WESTERN WASHINGTON. SUNDAY AND MONDAY WILL
BE SHOWERY. ANOTHER WEATHER SYSTEM WILL ARRIVE TUESDAY. WET AND
BREEZY WEATHER IS LIKELY AT TIMES THROUGH THE END OF THE WEEK.
&&
.SHORT TERM...BUOY AND METAR OBSERVATIONS FROM THE OREGON COAST SHOW
STRONG WINDS ARE HEADED TOWARD WASHINGTON. A DEEP LOW WILL REACH THE
CENTRAL WASHINGTON COAST AROUND 00Z AND SLOWLY FILL AS IT MOVES
NORTHEAST. BY AROUND 04Z IT WILL CROSS ADMIRALTY INLET RESULTING IN
A VERY STRONG SURFACE PRESSURE GRADIENT FROM SOUTH TO NORTH ACROSS
THE SEATTLE METRO AREA. A HIGH WIND WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR ALL
ZONES FROM EVERETT SOUTH INCLUDING THE SOUTHWEST INTERIOR AND THE
COAST. SUSTAINED WIND SPEEDS OF 20-40 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 60 MPH
ARE LIKELY.
HIGH WIND IN THE SEATTLE AREA IS RARE...ESPECIALLY THIS EARLY IN THE
YEAR. MOST TREES STILL HAVE THEIR LEAVES...WHICH MEANS THEY ARE MORE
LIKELY TO TOPPLE IN HIGH WIND. POWER OUTAGES ARE POSSIBLE TONIGHT.
THE LOW IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE NORTHEAST INTO SOUTHERN BRITISH
COLUMBIA. WIND WILL SPREAD TO THE NORTHWEST INTERIOR BUT AT THIS
POINT THE CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED TO BE SUB HIGH WIND. A WIND
ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT THERE.
SHOWERS AND BREEZY CONDITIONS WILL FOLLOW ON SUNDAY. THE SNOW LEVEL
IN THE MOUNTAINS WILL FALL BELOW 5000 FEET OR SO AND SOME SNOW ON
THE HIGHER PASSES IS LIKELY. SHOWERS TAPER SUNDAY NIGHT AND AT LEAST
THE FIRST PART OF MONDAY WILL PROBABLY BE DRY. THE NEXT FRONT
ARRIVES ON THE COAST MONDAY AFTERNOON AND SPREADS RAIN INLAND MONDAY
NIGHT...WITH TUESDAY A COOL SHOWERY DAY. BURKE
.LONG TERM...WEDNESDAY APPEARS TO BE A MOSTLY CLOUDY DAY WITH
SCATTERED SHOWERS. ANOTHER ORGANIZED SYSTEM ARRIVES THURSDAY. AT
THIS POINT THE GFS AND EURO DIVERGE WITH THE EURO STAYING WET AND
THE GFS TURNING SHOWERY. NOT CONFIDENT ON ANY DETAILS BUT THE
FORECAST WILL STAY MOIST INTO THE WEEKEND. BURKE
&&
.HYDROLOGY...THE SKOKOMISH RIVER APPEARS TO BE BOTTOMING OUT NEAR 15
FEET. IT WILL RISE AGAIN IN RESPONSE TO HEAVY RAIN TODAY AND
TONIGHT. IT IS POSSIBLE THE RIVER WILL GET CLOSE TO FLOOD STAGE LATE
TODAY OR TONIGHT. FOR NOW THE FORECAST TAKES THE STAGE AT POTLATCH
TO BETWEEN 15.5 AND 16 FEET. FLOOD STAGE IS 16.5 FEET.
A BREAK IN THE RAIN WILL ALLOW THE SKOKOMISH TO RECEDE RIVER MONDAY.
ANOTHER FRONT MONDAY NIGHT AND TUESDAY WILL BRING 2-3 INCHES OF RAIN
TO THE SKOKOMISH BASIN. WILL NEED TO KEEP A WATCH ON THIS BUT THE
CURRENT FORECAST KEEPS THE RIVER BELOW FLOOD STAGE.
OTHERWISE...FLOODING ON OTHER RIVERS IS UNLIKELY OVER THE NEXT 7
DAYS. BURKE
&&
.AVIATION...SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT OVER WESTERN WASHINGTON THIS
AFTERNOON WILL VEER TO WESTERLY TONIGHT AS A VIGOROUS FRONTAL SYSTEM
AND ITS UPPER TROUGH MOVE THROUGH THE AREA. THE AIR MASS WILL BE
MOIST AND SOMEWHAT UNSTABLE. NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT WILL DEVELOP
SUNDAY AHEAD OF A WEAK UPPER RIDGE.
AREAS OF RAIN ARE MOVING THROUGH WESTERN WASHINGTON THIS AFTERNOON
AS A VIGOROUS FRONTAL SYSTEM APPROACHES THE REGION FROM THE
SOUTHWEST. OFFSHORE NORTHERLY FLOW IS KEEPING THE LOWER LEVELS OF
THE AIR MASS GENERALLY DRY FOR MAINLY VFR CONDITIONS. CONDITIONS
WILL DETERIORATE LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY THIS EVENING AS THE
FRONTAL SYSTEM REACHES THE AREA...AND AS MOIST ONSHORE FLOW FOLLOWS
THE FRONT. THERE COULD ALSO BE ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ALONG THE
COAST THROUGH THIS EVENING. WINDS WILL RISE DRAMATICALLY AS THE
SURFACE LOW ASSOCIATED WITH THE FRONTAL SYSTEM TRACKS NORTHEAST
ACROSS WESTERN WASHINGTON THIS EVENING...WITH AREAS OF SUSTAINED 20
TO 35 KT WINDS AND GUSTS 40 TO 55 KT. THERE SHOULD BE GRADUAL
IMPROVEMENT SUNDAY.
KSEA...NORTHEAST WINDS 15 KT OR LESS WILL CONTINUE THIS AFTERNOON...
THEN SHIFT TO SOUTH OR SOUTHWEST AROUND 6 PM AND RISE QUICKLY TO
20-30 KT GUSTING 40 KT. THE WIND SHOULD PEAK AROUND 11 PM...AND WIND
AS HIGH AS 35 KT GUSTING 50 KT IS POSSIBLE. WINDS WILL EASE TO
SOUTHWEST 10-16 KT SUNDAY. MCDONNAL
&&
.MARINE...A 987 MB LOW WILL MOVE NORTHEAST ACROSS THE COASTAL WATERS
THIS AFTERNOON AND MAKE LANDFALL NEAR TAHOLA AROUND 5 PM TODAY. THE
LOW WILL TRACK ACROSS THE NORTH PART OF WESTERN WASHINGTON THIS
EVENING. WINDS WILL RISE RAPIDLY WITH THE ARRIVAL OF THE LOW...WITH
GALES OVER THE COASTAL WATERS BECOMING WEST TO NORTHWEST AS THE LOW
MOVES INLAND AND LOCALLY REACHING 45 KT. GALES WILL DEVELOP OVER ALL
INLAND WATERS ZONES TOO...WITH WESTERLIES IN THE CENTRAL AND EASTERN
STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA PROBABLY REACHING 45 KT.
HIGH PRES WILL MOVE ACROSS THE AREA SUNDAY AND WINDS WILL EASE.
ANOTHER VIGOROUS FRONTAL SYSTEM WILL MOVE THROUGH THE FORECAST AREA
LATE MONDAY THROUGH TUESDAY. THAT FEATURE HAS A GOOD CHANCE OF
PRODUCING GALES OVER THE COASTAL WATERS AND SOME OF THE INLAND
WATERS LIKE THE EAST ENTRANCE STRAIT AND NORTHERN INLAND WATERS.
&&
.SEW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
WA...HIGH WIND WARNING COAST...SOUTHWEST INTERIOR...SEATTLE/TACOMA
METROPOLITAN AREA.
WIND ADVISORY NORTHWEST INTERIOR AND EAST PUGET SOUND LOWLANDS.
PZ...GALE WARNING ALL WATERS.
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR ROUGH BAR CONDITIONS GRAYS HARBOR.
&&
YOU CAN SEE AN ILLUSTRATED VERSION OF THIS FORECAST DISCUSSION AT
WWW.WEATHER.GOV/SEATTLE/GAFD/LATEST_WEBAFD.HTML3 high wind, 2 strong wind. Local standard time, as filed.
KHQM southerly peak gust 51 KT or 59 mph, 314 PM. Westport westerly winds sustained 40-50 mph, gusting 49-63 mph, 536 PM to 742 PM.
A sailor participating in a race near Olympia died when the boat he was in capsized. There were about 50,000 people without power.
There were about 25,000 people without power.
Evergreen Point floating bridge experienced high wind from 740 PM to 1010 PM; the highest sustained wind was 60 mph and the highest gust was 61 mph. A DOT site near the Seattle waterfront, F00009, had sustained wind 41 mph at 830 PM. In West Seattle, a large tree limb fell through a roof. A bicyclist was injured by a tree limb. There were about 75,000 people without power.
East high rise of I-90 experienced high wind from 750 PM to 1030 PM; the highest sustained wind was 52 mph and the highest gust was 58 mph. There were about 50,000 people without power.
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, Southwest Interior | 2014-10-25 | 46 | Male | In Water | Direct |
| Strong Wind, East Puget Sound Lowlands | 2014-10-25 | 46 | Male | In Water | Direct |
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Washington in 2014Every state in 2014This day in weather historyWarnings in Washington, October 2014
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: 541086, 544471, 544871, 541087, 541088.