Here’s how windy it got in Whatcom County. What more does nature have planned?
Strong winds and driving rain from a fierce storm battered Whatcom County before easing around noon Friday, Sept. 25.
Meteorologists at the National Weather Service in Seattle canceled a wind advisory for parts of Western Washington, including Whatcom County, and a gale warning for inland waters, including Bellingham Bay.
A small-craft advisory remained in effect until 6 p.m. Friday
“A damp close to the week is in store as a vigorous Pacific storm system brings widespread rain to the area today,” meteorologist Carly Kovacik said in the online forecast discussion.
High temperatures Friday were expected in the low 60s, while up to an inch of rain was possible as rain continued.
Showers and light winds were predicted for Saturday, with highs in the 60s as high pressure moves in.
Sunday’s forecast calls for partly sunny skies with highs in the low 60s.
Morning windstorm
South winds peaked at 30 mph at 8 a.m. Friday, with gusts to 51 mph, as measured at Bellingham International Airport.
WInds fell to 18 mph with gusts of 28 mph by noon.
Scattered power outages affecting more than 2,000 Puget Sound Energy customers were reported as the strongest gusts howled through from 7 a.m. to 8 a.m., according to the PSE website.
Kovacik said the highest winds were focused on the Washington coast and the northwest interior, including Whatcom and Skagit counties and the San Juan Islands.
Power outages
Several scattered power outages affecting fewer than 500 PSE customers remained afternoon.
Early in the morning’s storm, more than 1,300 Puget Sound Energy customers in the Fairhaven and Happy Valley neighborhoods were without power for about an hour at 7:10 a.m., PSE said at its website.
Bellingham Fire was sent to investigate a report of wires down at 32nd Street and Donovan Avenue, according to the emergency services app Pulse Point.
Another 600 PSE customers were without electricity on the Lummi Peninsula at 6:30 a.m.
Power outages were still possible, because most trees still have their leaves, making them more susceptible to damage — especially when combined with rainfall, the National Weather Service said in its online forecast.
More rain possible
Environment Canada issued a heavy rain warning for Abbotsford, B.C., just north of Lynden.
Forecasters warned of possible street flooding from gutters clogged with fallen leaves.
More than a quarter-inch of rain fell at Bellingham airport from 5 a.m. to noon, and the National Weather Service tweeted that Bellingham’s three-day rainfall total was 1.59 inches.
Normal rainfall for the entire month of September is 1.78 inches, according to NOAA data.
COVID testing canceled
Whatcom Unified Command canceled drive-thru testing planned Friday morning and afternoon in Lynden.
Patients whose appointments are canceled are asked to register for a testing appointment at another time online at testdirectly.com/whatcom, a Unified Command statement said.
This story was originally published September 25, 2020 at 7:16 AM.
