That deep low-pressure system off our coast over the weekend turned out to be quite a storm but mostly along the immediate coast. The strongest wind gusts in the state I could easily find was 86 mph around 9 p.m. Sunday in Ocean Park on the Long Beach Peninsula. It had the lowest barometric pressure ever recorded this close to our coastline. The barometer bottomed out at 27.82 inches. Needless to say, extensive long power outages.
Fortunately, the low came at us from the west and then moved northward toward Vancouver Island. Had it formed to our south and moved up the Oregon Coast we would have had another Columbus Day-type windstorm, which was catastrophic with winds in Vancouver at 117 mph.
We did see winds in the 35- to 45-mph range with only minor damage and scattered power outages. A tree fell on the southbound lanes of the Interstate 5 bridge over the Lewis River that backed traffic up for hours Sunday afternoon as that squall line moved through the area.
I did think the rainfall amounts would be much higher, but we still managed .61 of an inch on Saturday, .28 of an inch on Sunday and .10 of an inch as of 5 p.m. Monday. That adds up to nearly an inch and I expect some of you had much more in those heavy downpours that were scattered about over the weekend.
