A VERY serious storm is going to hit the Northwest during the next two days--one that will cause flooding and coastal wind damage. And the urban areas are doing to experience a deluge.
Here is the forecast precipitation over the next 48h over the region and over western Washington.The Olympics, the north Cascades, and the mountains of southwest Washington and NW Oregon are going to get hammered with 5-10 inches of rain (reds). Even Seattle will get nearly 4-5 inches if this forecast verifies.
Folks, this will be a major event.
There is a serious threat of flooding on a number of rivers. The Skokomish is a given. It looks like there will be flooding of the Chehalis...and that means those near the river should prepare. The NWS River Forecast Center is going for a major flood at points along the Chehalis....here is an example:
And there are others that I won't list now.
The other threat of this event is wind--HUGE winds along the Washington and Oregon coasts (worst along the Oregon coast). Take a look at this forecast of sustained winds for 1 AM on Wednesday morning. Sustained winds of 50 kts with gusts heading to 70-80.
The Washington coast will get the strong winds earlier...tonight...see below:
Regarding snow, the models are putting a few feet over the north Cascade...and far less to the south where the freezing level will be relatively high. An interesting aspect of this case is that it is NOT a pineapple express event with a moisture plume extending from just north of Hawaii.
Anyway, I believe a major storm event is about to unfold...and it will be fascinating to use the new Langley Hill radar.
