Windstorm now a warning, not a watch

[solarbird]

Okay, the previously-mentioned windstorm watch has been upgraded to a warning, with the same scary scary windspeeds mentioned before, and with language like:

PEOPLE NEED TO PREPARE NOW FOR MAJOR DISRUPTION RESULTING FROM THIS WINDSTORM. BE SURE TO HAVE ENOUGH SUPPLIES ON HAND TO LAST FOR SEVERAL DAYS SHOULD YOU BE STRANDED AT HOME. BY LATE SATURDAY MORNING... IT MAY BE TOO LATE TO PREPARE.

The top wind-speed forecasts are in the foothills, places like Mill Creek. Further west, the I-405 and Highway 167 corridors are expecting 30-40mph sustained, 60mph gusts. The next zone west of that (Kenmore/Lake Forest Park/Shoreline/Seattle proper) should get off relatively lightly if things don't change. So if you're in the primary or secondary zones, get prepped now. And even if you're not, you might find yourself without power for a bit, depending upon which high-voltage lines go down, so be ready for that, too, just in case.

We are, however, well within the brand-new winter storm warning issued, um, three minutes into the future as I type this. Someone's clock is fast. Regardless, the winter storm warning says four to eight more inches of snow Saturday night and Sunday. @whee!

Comments

[mojave-wolf.livejournal.com]

My first lj reading in days; I heard you guys had a snowstorm too. We're not used to that sort of thing here.

Hopefully you, unlike me, have a four wheel drive or snow tires or chains or are used to driving on snow (and/or mud, if you happen to live on a dirt road that gets chewed up by people w/the above things).

Getting in and out of town is an adventure these days!!!

Best of luck to you!

[solarbird]

Well, we can walk to stuff, and we can walk to core transit, which has been pretty good about continuing to go along trunk routes. So we're fine, even though we do not have four wheel drive or chains or any of that; we don't need it. We do, however, have Yaktrax, which everyone here should have.

[mojave-wolf.livejournal.com]

Heh, I have to bail on the library or I might wind up wishing I had some of those on the unplanned walk the last part of the way home.

Good luck!

[devichan.livejournal.com]

Hope people remember to tie down any light patio furniture. Always gets a few people when a tropical storm blows through here!

[denelian.livejournal.com]

be safe. and warm. at least, if you had a car, you COULD use chains. for some strange damned reason, they are illegal here in ohio. sigh.
i hope you guys are ok.

[llachglin.livejournal.com]

Mill Creek is not foothills. It's just north of Bothell. Top wind speeds (50-70 sustained and gusts to 90) are forecast for the top of the Cascades and the nearby foothills; the towns most affected are places like North Bend, Maple Valley, and Enumclaw, and to a lesser extent places like Issaquah. Areas from there to as far west as the outskirts of Woodinville are likely to be in the 25-35 mph range. Bothell and Kenmore are likely to get 15-25 mph sustained winds, which isn't bad.

The cause of this is a low pressure front pushing in from the west and colliding with a high pressure front in Eastern Washington. The edge of that front brings moisture that is supposed to drop snow, but the effect of the easterly winds means that most snow will drop further west. Kitsap County could get 1-2 FEET of snow. Warmer temperatures further south mean that areas south of Tacoma might get freezing rain instead or in addition.

We should prepare for the worst, but odds are that Northshore will come out of this better than just about any place in the Puget Sound region.

See http://cliffmass.blogspot.com/ for an interesting discussion.