High wind struck parts of Western Washington beginning around mid morning on Saturday August 29th and continued into the afternoon hours. Widespread tree damage and power outages occurred, about 450,000 in total.
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 struck parts of Western Washington beginning around mid morning on Saturday August 29th and continued into the afternoon hours. Widespread tree damage and power outages occurred, about 450,000 in total. Storm force winds developed over the coastal waters and Northern Inland waters. Solid Gale force winds occurred on the remaining waters. Ferry service between Port Townsend and Coupeville was suspended because of the windstorm.
A tree feel on an automobile in Gig Harbor resulting in 1 death. At least 23 car collisions reported around Puget Sound by news media, possibly weather related. Highway 99 closed for a few hours through downtown Seattle was weather-related according to media and Seattle Police. Numerous reports of trees or branches on roadways. Widespread power outages. Power outages examples: 161,000 Puget Sound Energy and 58,000 Seattle City light customers.
A 10-year-old girl was killed in SeaTac when a falling tree branch hit and killed her. |Two elderly people died in their home near Everson after inhaling a generator’s exhaust fumes during the weekend power outage.
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 Aug 29, 8:00 AM PST, 21 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA
900 AM PDT SAT AUG 29 2015
.SYNOPSIS...A STRONG FRONTAL SYSTEM IS MOVING THROUGH THE REGION
TODAY. ADDITIONAL FRONTS WILL REACH THE REGION INTO EARLY NEXT
WEEK AS A LARGE UPPER TROUGH TAKES UP RESIDENCE IN THE NORTHEAST
PACIFIC. THE TROUGH WILL LIKELY LINGER THOUGH THE END OF NEXT WEEK.
&&
.SHORT TERM...SHOWERS AND WINDY WEATHER ARE ON TAP FOR WESTERN WA
TODAY AS A STRONG FRONTAL SYSTEM MOVES THROUGH WESTERN WA. SATELLITE
AND RADAR SHOW THAT THE MAIN FRONT MOVED THROUGH WRN WA AROUND DAYBREAK
AND THAT THE LOW PRESSURE CENTER AND SWIRLING RAIN BANDS ARE JUST OFF
THE COAST AT 9 AM. A COUPLE MORE FRONTAL WAVES SHOULD GIVE PERIODS OF
RAIN TO THE AREA THROUGH EARLY NEXT WEEK. THE HEAVIER RAIN WILL BE ON
THE NORTH COAST AND IN THE MOUNTAINS BUT THE LOWLANDS SHOULD GET SOME
RAIN AT TIMES IN THIS AUTUMNLIKE WEATHER PATTERN.
.LONG TERM...AN UPPER TROUGH WILL REMAIN OVER THE REGION FOR COOL
UNSETTLED CONDITIONS WITH SHOWERS AT TIMES. THERE WILL BE PARTLY
SUNNY PERIODS AS WELL...THE SOMEWHAT UNSTABLE AIR MASS WILL ALLOW
MORNING CLOUDS TO BUBBLE UP TO SCATTERED CU AND SHOWERS IN THE
AFTERNOON.
&&
.AVIATION...CEILINGS HAVE IMPROVED TO VFR LEVELS THIS MORNING BEHIND
THE FRONT THAT MOVED THROUGH THE INTERIOR THIS MORNING. RAIN
ASSOCIATED WITH THE FRONT OVER THE NORTH INTERIOR AS OF 16Z...SHOULD
MOVE QUICKLY NORTH OF THE BORDER OVER THE NEXT HOUR OR SO. SOUTHERLY
WINDS HAVE BEGUN TO INCREASE ALONG THE CENTRAL WA COAST ALREADY THIS
MORNING...AND ARE STARTING TO PICK UP OVER THE SOUTHWEST INTERIOR.
EXPECT SOUTHERLY WINDS TO INCREASING OVER THE INTERIOR FROM THE
SOUTH THROUGH THE REST OF THE MORNING WITH SUSTAINED WINDS 20 TO 30
KT POSSIBLE ESPECIALLY DURING THE LATE MORNING AND AFTERNOON HOURS.
THE UPPER LEVEL LOW WILL JUST CLIP THE OLYMPIC PENINSULA BY
MIDDAY AS IT EJECTS INTO BRITISH COLUMBIA...WITH SCATTERED SHOWERS
LINGERING OVER MUCH OF THE AREA. THE TRAILING COLD FRONT WILL ARRIVE
THIS EVENING WITH ANOTHER ROUND OF PRECIPITATION AND LOWER CEILINGS
WITH CONDITIONS TRENDING BACK DOWN TO MVFR LEVELS.
KSEA...EXPECT CONDITIONS TO REMAIN VFR WITH A BREAK IN THE RAIN
THROUGH THROUGH THE AFTERNOON. SOUTH WINDS WILL BECOME MORE
SOUTHERLY AND INCREASE OVER THE NEXT HOUR OR SO TO 15-25 AND
POSSIBLY 30 KNOTS. WINDS WILL EASE THIS EVENING WITH CEILINGS
LOWERING TO NEAR 3000 FEET WITH THE COLD FRONT TONIGHT.
&&
.MARINE...THE SURFACE LOW CONTINUES TO WORK THROUGH THE WA COASTAL
WATERS THIS MORNING WITH INCREASING SOUTH TO SOUTHWESTERLY
WINDS... BRINGING GALE FORCE WINDS TO ALL BUT THE WEST
ENTRANCE AND CENTRAL STRAIT. WINDS EASING TONIGHT WITH THE WEAKER
TRAILING COLD FRONT MOVING THROUGH THE WATERS. AN ADDITIONAL SET OF
WEAKER SYSTEMS WILL MOVE THROUGH THE WATERS MONDAY AND TUESDAY.
&&
.SEW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
WA...HIGH WIND WARNINGS ARE IN EFFECT FOR MUCH OF THE LOWLANDS
FROM 8 AM THIS MORNING TIL 6 PM PDT THIS EVENING.
PZ...GALE WARNING IN EFFECT THROUGH 6 PM THIS EVENING FOR THE
COASTAL WATERS.
GALE WARNINGS IN EFFECT THROUGH 6 PM SATURDAY EVENING FOR THE
NORTHERN INLAND WATERS...EAST STRAIT...ADMIRALTY INLET...AND
PUGET SOUND/HOOD CANAL.
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT THROUGH 5 PM THIS AFTERNOON FOR
THE WEST ENTRANCE.
&&
WWW.WEATHER.GOV/SEATTLE
YOU CAN SEE AN ILLUSTRATED VERSION OF THIS DISCUSSION AT
WWW.WEATHER.GOV/SEATTLE/GAFD/LATEST_WEBAFD.HTMLPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA
910 AM PDT SAT AUG 29 2015
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0909 AM NON-TSTM WND GST 1 S WESTPORT 46.88N 124.11W
08/29/2015 M52 MPH GRAYS HARBOR WA TRAINED SPOTTER
&&
GRUBThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
7 high wind, 3 strong wind. Local standard time, as filed.
The KHQM observation recorded 45g61 mph and the tide gauge at Westport recorded 41g63 mph.
DES had 50+ KT sustained wind and KUIL had gusts 61-62 mph.
A tree feel on an automobile in Gig Harbor resulting in 1 death. At Joint Base Lewis-McChord on Saturday morning, four people were injured by falling branches during a triathlon. There were about 20,000 customers without power.
Power outages and downed trees affected much of the Hood Canal area.
Lopez Island had sustained wind of 40+ mph for a few hours.
At least 23 car collisions reported around Puget Sound by news media, possibly weather related. Highway 99 closed for a few hours through downtown Seattle. Numerous reports of trees or branches on roadways. Widespread power outages. Power outages at 130 pm PDT include: Over 161,000 Puget Sound Energy and 58,000 Seattle City light customers. The Seattle Public Library’s Central Library and Broadview branch closed Saturday afternoon after losing power, while the Woodland Park Zoo closed
In Federal Way, a 10-year-old girl who was killed when a falling tree branch hit and killed her while she was playing in a backyard.
Two elderly people died in their home near Everson after inhaling a generator’s exhaust fumes during the weekend power outage.
Power outages and downed trees affected much of the county.
Cama beach reported a gust of 59 mph. There were some power outages and trees down in the Admiralty Inlet area.
A fallen tree at one point blocked all lanes of northbound I-5 in Lynnwood. |The Snohomish County Public Utility District reported a peak of more than 175,000 customers without service. A number of fallen trees throughout the area.
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, Tacoma Area | 2015-08-29 | 36 | Male | Vehicle/Towed Trailer | Direct |
| Strong Wind, Seattle and Vicinity | 2015-08-29 | 10 | Female | Outside/Open Areas | Direct |
| High Wind, Western Whatcom | 2015-08-29 | 82 | Male | Permanent Home | Indirect |
| High Wind, Western Whatcom | 2015-08-29 | 71 | Female | Permanent Home | Indirect |
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Washington in 2015Every state in 2015This day in weather historyWarnings in Washington, August 2015
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: 600224, 600223, 592082, 600220, 600222, 600221, 593403, 599778, 599781, 593402.