Worst of windstorm hit Seattle, but forecast says Whatcom threat remains
A threat of damaging winds will persist through Monday night, Oct. 25, although Whatcom County seems to have been spared the worst of a powerful storm spinning north off the Western Washington coast.
Wind gusts of 50 to 60 mph remain possible Monday, the National Weather Service in Seattle said online, and a high wind warning remained for western Whatcom and Skagit counties.
In addition, minor tidal overflow was possible from a storm surge near south-facing beaches, the weather service said.
“Gusty winds are expected area-wide, with the strongest winds along the coast, through the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and across the north interior. No immediate changes are planned for the hazards in place this morning. We continue to monitor showers along the coast for rotation, but overall the trend shows a weakening of cells,” meteorologist Reid Wolcott said in the online forecast discussion.
“Overall hazards should diminish during the overnight hours. We will continue to monitor conditions and the forecast and update as needed,” Wolcott said.
Southeast winds were blowing at 20 mph and gusting to 39 mph at 10 a.m. Monday at Bellingham International Airport — the strongest winds of the two-day storm.
Only a few scattered outages were reported around Whatcom County.
But the situation was different in Seattle, which took the brunt of a storm that forecasters had expected would batter Whatcom County.
Nearly 40,000 Puget Sound Energy and Seattle City Light customers remained without power Monday morning.
Some meteorologists were calling the storm a “bomb cyclone,” because it developed quickly with explosive intensity.
Most of the storm, with its massive low-pressure center, remained well out to sea and moved north past Vancouver Island.
