Lots to talk about in the weather department Wednesday afternoon. The Northwest map of Oregon and Washington on the National Weather Service website was lit up like a Christmas tree, with many warnings posted.
This included a high wind warning for Clark County, with winds 40-55 mph and maybe a few gusts at 60 mph or better. The probability was high Wednesday afternoon that we could see a damaging, albeit short-lived, windstorm later today.
The track of this last in a series of powerful storms this week was critical. If it tracks close to the coastline as it quickly moves northward, we could see really damaging winds. A little further offshore and not so much. Forecasters thought it would be at least as strong as the one that moved through on October 25. That knocked out power for thousands of utility customers. So listen to the latest this morning as the winds were expected to hit in the afternoon.
My disadvantage writing this column Wednesday evening is not knowing exactly where it will track. It was in its early stages of development at 5 p.m. Wednesday.
The good news is we dry out and winds calm down Friday through the weekend. We get back to a more seasonal temperature range, with highs in the 40s and lows in the 30s. Right where we should be for mid-December.
That wasn’t the case Wednesday in the Puget Sound Region. Seattle broke its all-time record high for December and so did Bellingham. Seattle’s high of 66 degrees was the warmest since records were first kept in 1894. Temperatures ranged between 65 and 68 degrees to our north. Maybe an unofficial 70 somewhere? Clark County generally was in the 50s thanks to a continuation of cool easterly winds.
Some locations in Clark County away from the Columbia River Gorge outflow bumped into the 60s. Weather observer Tyler Mode of Battle Ground reported 64 degrees. If this had occurred in Vancouver, it would have been a record. In my decades of weather keeping here in Clark County, I have never recorded a high over 63 degrees in December.
Stay tuned for the incoming storm and be prepared. Be safe. I promise I will share last month’s rainfall on Sunday!
Patrick Timm is a local weather specialist. His column appears Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. Reach him at patricktimm.com.
