There was brief high wind in the north interior during the night of December 19-20.
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.
There was brief high wind in the north interior during the night of December 19-20.
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 Dec 19, 9:00 PM PST, 2 hours 44 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA
900 PM PST SAT DEC 19 2015
.SYNOPSIS...A FRONT WILL BRING RAIN AND MOUNTAIN SNOW TONIGHT AND
SUNDAY. NEXT WEEK WILL FEATURE A SERIES OF COOL AND WET SYSTEMS WITH
HEAVY SNOWFALL LIKELY AT TIMES IN THE MOUNTAINS. RAIN AND SNOW WILL
TAPER TO MAINLY SHOWERS THURSDAY AND THURSDAY NIGHT WITH SNOW LEVELS
FALLING TO AROUND 500 FEET. COOL AND MOSTLY DRY WEATHER WILL
DEVELOP CHRISTMAS DAY.
&&
.SHORT TERM...A PARADE OF FRONTS WILL CROSS THE AREA OVER THE
NEXT THREE DAYS...BRINGING RAIN AND WINDY CONDITIONS AT TIMES
ALONG WITH COPIOUS MOUNTAIN SNOW.
THE FIRST SYSTEM WILL SPREAD RAIN INLAND TONIGHT WITH RAIN
CHANGING TO SHOWERS SUNDAY. A WIND ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FOR THE
COAST AND NORTH INTERIOR TONIGHT AHEAD OF THE FRONT AND A WINTER
STORM WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR THE CASCADES THROUGH SUNDAY.
A SECOND FRONT WILL ARRIVE MONDAY. THIS SYSTEM IS AIMED FURTHER SOUTH.
THERE WILL BE ANOTHER ROUND OF RAIN AND MOUNTAIN SNOW BUT LESS WIND.
A SURFACE LOW MOVING INLAND OVER SOUTHWEST WASHINGTON WILL TURN THE
LOW LEVEL FLOW EAST TO NORTHEAST. THIS COULD RESULT IN SOME LOWLAND
SNOW CONCERNS FOR THE HOOD CANAL AREA AND KITSAP PENINSULA. THE
TIMING...IN THE AFTERNOON...DOES NOT LOOK IDEAL FOR ACCUMULATING
LOWLAND SNOW HOWEVER AND THE THREAT SEEMS LOW FOR NOW.
A THIRD FRONT WILL BRING MORE RAIN TUESDAY. THIS SYSTEM LOOKS
LIKE IT WILL BRING BLUSTERY WINDS TO MOST AREAS WITH STRONG
ONSHORE FLOW BEHIND THE FRONT. THIS SHOULD ALSO BE A RECIPE FOR A
LOT OF ADDITIONAL SNOW IN THE MOUNTAINS. SCHNEIDER
.LONG TERM...PREVIOUS DISCUSSION...WEDNESDAY MAY SEE A BREAK IN
THE PARADE OF WEATHER SYSTEMS THOUGH TIMING IS PROBABLY IFFY AT
THIS POINT. SNOW WILL KEEP FALLING IN THE MOUNTAINS. ANOTHER
SYSTEM ARRIVES WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND THURSDAY. HIGHS WILL BE IN THE
40S WITH LOWS IN THE 30S.
IT MIGHT GET A LITTLE MORE INTERESTING THURSDAY NIGHT AS A DEEP
UPPER TROUGH DEVELOPS OVER THE AREA. THE SNOW LEVEL WILL FALL TO 500
FEET OR LESS AND THERE WILL BE SHOWERS. SOME PLACES COULD GET SOME
SNOW THOUGH THE URBAN HEAT ISLAND OF PUGETOPOLIS MAY KEEP ANY SNOW
FROM ACCUMULATING AROUND SEATTLE. CHRISTMAS DAY IS MORE LIKELY TO BE
DRY THAN WET BUT SOME LIGHT SNOW IS POSSIBLE. BOTH THE GFS AND EURO
START TO BRING A WARMER AND WETTER SYSTEM INTO THE AREA ON SATURDAY
WHICH SHOULD END ANY LOWLAND SNOW THREAT. BURKE
&&
.AVIATION...A STRONG OCCLUDED FRONT ABOUT 180 NM W OF THE WA COAST
AT 0330Z WILL REACH THE COAST AROUND 12Z. THE FRONT WILL CROSS THE
INTERIOR SUNDAY MORNING AND SHOULD BE WEAKENING OVER THE CASCADES BY
18Z. STRONG W FLOW ALOFT WILL CONTINUE TONIGHT AHEAD OF THE FRONT.
AN UPPER LEVEL SHORTWAVE TROUGH WILL CROSS W WA BEHIND THE FRONT ON
SUNDAY WITH W-WSW FLOW ALOFT. THE AIR MASS WILL BE STABLE TONIGHT
THEN BECOME WEAKLY UNSTABLE BEHIND THE FRONT ON SUNDAY.
VFR CIGS ABOVE BKN035 THROUGH 06Z WILL GRADUALLY LOWER TO MVFR
OVC015-025 AFTER 10Z. CIGS SHOULD BECOME VFR ABOVE BKN030 BEHIND THE
FRONT AFTER 18Z...BUT COULD LOWER BRIEFLY TO MVFR IN
SCATTERED SHOWERS.
KSEA...VFR CIGS BKN-OVC030-050 THROUGH ABOUT 10Z. RAIN WILL BECOME
MORE STEADY AFTER 10Z ALLOWING CIGS TO LOWER TO OVC015-025. CIG
SHOULD BE VFR BY 20Z WITH OCCASIONAL BKN025 CIGS IN SHOWERS AFTER
THAT. SURFACE WIND WILL BE S 10-15KT WITH GUSTS TO 22 KT AFTER 10Z.
KAM
&&
.MARINE...A STRONG OCCLUDED FRONT ABOUT 180 NM W OF THE COAST AT 730
PM WILL REACH THE COAST AROUND 12Z/4 AM THEN CROSS THE INTERIOR
SUNDAY MORNING. THE FRONT SHOULD BE WEAKENING OVER THE CASCADES BY
18Z/10 AM SUNDAY. BASED ON THE 18Z CANADIAN LAM A GALE WAS ISSUED
FOR ADMIRALTY INLET TONIGHT. THE 12Z ARW WAS JUST BELOW GALE SO IT
WAS A CLOSE CALL. IT LOOKS LIKE THERE WILL BE A QUICK SHIFT TO
WEAKER W FLOW RIGHT BEHIND THE FRONT. W-SW FLOW BEHIND THE FRONT
LOOKS LIKE IT WILL GENERATE OFF AND ON SCA WINDS OVER THE INTERIOR
THROUGH SUNDAY. THE ONLY PLACE WHERE WINDS MAY BE WEAKER IS
ADMIRALTY INLET.
THE NEXT STRONG LOW WILL APPROACH THE AREA FROM THE W ON MONDAY. THE
LATEST 00Z GFS TRACK STILL TAKES A 989 MB LOW OVER ASTORIA AROUND
21Z/1 PM MONDAY AFTERNOON. THIS LOW COULD GENERATE E-NE GALES OVER
THE SOUTHERN COASTAL WATERS ON MONDAY. THE REST OF THE AREA WOULD
HAVE WEAKER N-NE WINDS...PROBABLY SUB-ADVISORY OVER THE INLAND
WATERS.
THE 00Z GFS SHOWS ANOTHER 989 MB LOW CROSSING CAPE FLATTERY AROUND
MIDDAY TUESDAY. THIS SYSTEM COULD GENERATE HIGH END GALE FORCE W
WINDS BEHIND THE LOW MIDDAY TUESDAY THROUGH THE AFTERNOON...AS WELL
AS A VERY LARGE W SWELL ABOVE 25 FT. THE ACTIVE WEATHER PATTERN WILL
CONTINUE THROUGH THURSDAY.
TIDES IN THE INLAND WATERS WILL BE CLOSE TO -- BUT MOST LIKELY JUST
BELOW -- THE THRESHOLD FOR MINOR TIDAL OVERFLOW DURING THE HIGH TIDE
MIDDAY SUNDAY. FOR SEATTLE...MINOR TIDAL OVERFLOW BEGINS AT 13.5
FEET. THE NOON HIGH TIDE IS PREDICTED TO BE 12.4 FT WITH AN ANOMALY
NEAR 0.8 FT. KAM
&&
.HYDROLOGY...THE SERIES OF WEATHER SYSTEMS ARRIVING OVER THE NEXT
SEVERAL DAYS COULD PUSH THE ALREADY PRIMED SKOKOMISH RIVER ABOVE
FLOOD STAGE AT TIMES...MAYBE SUNDAY AND PERHAPS AGAIN NEXT WEEK. A
FLOOD WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR THE SKOKOMISH RIVER ON SUNDAY. ANY
FLOODING IS EXPECTED TO BE MINOR. OTHERWISE...WITH LOW SNOW
LEVELS...FLOODING IS UNLIKELY ON OTHER RIVERS IN WESTERN WASHINGTON
FOR THE NEXT 7 DAYS. BURKE/SCHNEIDER
&&
.SEW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
WA...WINTER STORM WARNING UNTIL 10 PM PST SUNDAY CASCADES.
FLOOD WATCH FROM 4 AM PST SUNDAY THROUGH SUNDAY EVENING FOR
MASON COUNTY.
WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 10 AM PST SUNDAY FOR ADMIRALTY INLET AREA-
SAN JUAN COUNTY-WESTERN SKAGIT COUNTY-WESTERN WHATCOM
COUNTY.
WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 7 AM PST SUNDAY FOR CENTRAL COAST-NORTH
COAST.
PZ...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR ROUGH BAR UNTIL 4 AM PST MONDAY FOR
GRAYS HARBOR BAR.
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FROM 4 AM SUNDAY TO 6 AM PST MONDAY FOR
COASTAL WATERS AND WEST ENTRANCE STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA.
GALE WARNING UNTIL 4 AM PST SUNDAY FOR COASTAL WATERS AND WEST
ENTRANCE STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA.
GALE WARNING UNTIL 9 AM PST SUNDAY FOR ADMIRALTY INLET-EAST
ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA-NORTHERN INLAND
WATERS INCLUDING THE SAN JUAN ISLANDS.
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY UNTIL 8 PM PST SUNDAY FOR CENTRAL U.S.
WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA.
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY UNTIL 1 PM PST SUNDAY FOR PUGET SOUND AND
HOOD CANAL.
&&
WWW.WEATHER.GOV/SEATTLE
YOU CAN SEE AN ILLUSTRATED VERSION OF THIS DISCUSSION AT
WWW.WEATHER.GOV/SEATTLE/GAFD/LATEST_WEBAFD.HTMLThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Lopez Island had sustained wind 42 mph.
A CWOP west of Bellingham recorded sustained wind of 41 mph. Ferndale had 41 mph gusting to 61 mph.
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, December 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: 605138, 605139.