The winds did not disappoint. Destruction Island off the NW Olympic coast hit 72 knots (see below)...that is 83 mph! Hurricane strength gusts (to be fair hurricanes have sustained winds greater than 64 knots)A number of the coastal buoys had gusts of 50-55 knots (58-63 mph) with similar winds at some exposed coastal locations).
Winds are really surging now over NW weather, with several locations in the area from N. Whidbey to the San Juans being hit by 40-60 mph gusts. Take Point Wilson on the NE tip of the Olympic Peninsual for example--almost up to 50 kts! (see below)
Even over the waters of Puget Sound, things are pretty wild tonight...check out the latest ferry observations from the Fauntleroy-Southworth ferry-- 38 knots in mid-channel but only 8 knots downstream of Vashon Is....and even less over land.This is something you should never forget..the winds blow much harder over the water. We are all very lucky to have weather observations from the WS Ferries, a great teacher and promotes marine safety.
There have been a number of power outages over the region affecting thousands of customers. If any of you have interesting wind reports, please report them in the comments below. Here is a max wind collection from the National Weather Service:PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA
1240 PM PDT THU MAY 20 2010
..MAXIMUM PEAK WIND GUSTS FROM AROUND WESTERN WASHINGTON WEDNESDAY
AND WEDNESDAY NIGHT...
OFFICIAL LOW LAND AIRPORT OBSERVATION SITES.
QUILLAYUTE 60 MPH
HOQUIAM 60 MPH
WHIDBEY ISLAND NAVAL STATION 49 MPH
BELLINGHAM INTERNATIONAL 49 MPH
TACOMA INDUSTRIAL 47 MPH
FRIDAY HARBOR 43 MPH
EVERETT / PAINE FIELD 43 MPH
SHELTON 41 MPH
ARLINGTON 37 MPH
MCCHORD AFB 36 MPH
SEATTLE FORECAST OFFICE 36 MPH
PORT ANGELES 35 MPH
RENTON 32 MPH
OLYMPIA 32 MPH
BOEING FIELD 31 MPH
NATIONAL WEATHER SPOTTER REPORTS
AND MESOWEST
ENUMCLAW 65 MPH
OCEAN SHORES 59 MPH
PORT TOWNSEND 56 MPH
LA PUSH 55 MPH
BELLINGHAM 54 MPH
BOTHELL 51 MPH
SANDY POINT 49 MPH
COPALIS BEACH 48 MPH
LYNDEN 43 MPH
CHERRY POINT 40 MPH
MOUNTAIN OBSERVATIONS
HURRICANE RIDGE (RAWS) 118 MPH
HURRICANE RIDGE (NWAC) 83 MPH
MOUNT BAKER (NWAC) 78 MPH
WHITE PASS (NWAC) 55 MPH
MARINE OBSERVATIONS
DESTRUCTION ISLAND 70 MPH
TATOOSH ISLAND 62 MPH
SMITH ISLAND 52 MPH
POINT WILSON 50 MPH
WEST POINT 40 MPH
$$
