SEATTLE — The first couple days of February have been unusually quiet with mild temperatures, dry weather, sunshine, and light winds. That quickly changed Friday as a frontal system brought widespread lowland rain, mountain snow, and strong gusty winds.
The high winds and strong gusts caused scattered power outages throughout western Washington.
High Wind Warning
A High Wind Warning went into effect Friday at 4 a.m. and expired at 7 p.m. for the north coast. It kicked into effect at 10 a.m. Friday for western Whatcom County and San Juan County and was in effect until 10 p.m. Within the High Wind Warning, southern winds were expected to be sustained at 30 to 40 mph with damaging gusts up to 60 mph.
Wind Advisory
A Wind Advisory went into effect Friday at 4 a.m. and expired at 7 p.m. for the Puget Sound Lowlands, Kitsap Peninsula and Hood Canal areas. Seattle and Everett were both included in the Wind Advisory. Within the Wind Advisory, southern winds were expected to be sustained at 25 to 35 mph with strong gusts up to 45 mph.
Wind timeline and forecast gusts
The wind began during the predawn hours along the Washington coast before spreading inland toward Puget Sound by late Friday morning. The strong wind gusts continued throughout the afternoon and early evening hours across western Washington.
Winds were expected to peak from late morning through the mid-afternoon hours before decreasing late Friday night.
While strong wind gusts were the main hazard, moderate rainfall for the lowlands and windblown snow occurred for the mountain passes. If traveling over the passes, check the latest pass conditions Friday through Sunday as half foot of snow is expected for all the passes by the end of the weekend.
Widespread flooding is not a concern but minor flooding is possible for locations along the Skokomish River in Mason County where the river could approach minor flood stage over the weekend.
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