PNW Storms

[Rhianon]

How are our PNW members doing? Of course, if you have no power, you won't be able to report in!

I just saw Washington State has declared a state of emergency.

We had some big winds and a lotta rain here on Vancouver Island. But not too bad at all. Power flickering.

[Fatcat]

Wet, very wet, and lots of wind. Power has been on, but flickering all week. Today it's lightning too. My barn has had periods of light flooding despite having a curtain drain. It's just been coming down too hard for the drains to carry it all away. Driveway came close to flooding earlier this week, as the creek it passes over jumped its banks, but thankfully the rain stopped in time.

[hoopoe]

horrible storm cell settled over my place and I lost power. No flooding or other inconveniences.

the people living on river flood basins are suffering.

it has been some time since we have had this severe and widespread flood. Thankfully the elevation temps are falling and the next few storm fronts will fall as snow in the passes, lessening the impact to the river runoff.

[Idofly]

Horrible rain...bad flooding, lots of wind...and my horses are taking the barn apart in their boredom.

[hoopoe]

From Scott Sistiks Blog. Gusts and peek winds recorded in the triple digits yesterday

yowza

The Olympic Mountains may be home to Hurricane Ridge, but it was some of the Cascade ridges that took on hurricane-force winds during Tuesday's windstorm.

As an intense low pressure system passed by just to the north, it created an incredible pressure difference along the eastside of the Cascades, bringing triple-digit wind speeds to some spots.

Mission Ridge took the trophy for the greatest windspeed clocked in the state with a 137mph gust recorded at the 6,730 foot level. That was just its peak gust. The anemometer recorded gusts over 90 mph for 14 consecutive hours (and 17 of 18 hours), including an 8-hour stretch with hourly peak gusts of 112, 128, 135, 127, 110, 137, 113, 98.

White Pass, about 1,000 feet lower, didn't do too shabby as second place with this eight-hour stretch: 113, 115, 119, 115, 99, 116, 114 and 113 mph.

But they weren't alone in the 110+ category: Crystal Mountain registered a 107 mph gust at 6,830 feet and Rattlesnake Ridge had a gust of 115 mph.

[Canyon]

Yowza is right! It seems like all that rain and high winds would be death to trees.

I heard from a good friend in Sammamish who hasn't done any hiking this week because she didn't want to drown standing up.

[hoopoe]

our trees evolved for this weather

they are pretty bendy, to a point

then when they come down in the forest it is a natural thinning and they serve as ground support and nurse logs.

It is the built up areas where they leave a few trees here and there that the mayhem starts. Lone trees and tree lines fall easily as there is little support and stability and the soils are usually pretty disturbed.

hiking is pretty much a crap shoot now. Between snow and avalanches in the upper elevations and roads flooded, blocked long with downed trees blocking popular trails, most hiking is going to have to be at sea level at unpopular destinations. Me I would love to be at the ocean right now.

[Fatcat]

Batten down, here comes another windy, wet day. 50mph winds today.

[Code3]

Eugene had damage with trees down. Portland had a death from a tree falling on a house. I worry about that but we had some trees taken out around our house last year that were "iffy". So far just lots of wind and rain but no damage at home. Except my outdoor all weather arena is a lake. Lake Arena. The lightning and thunder yesterday were impressive. The thunder seemed to be more crack than rumble. We have our generators ready to go and extra gas on hand just in case. Our house in on a line with only three houses so we are the last to get repaired in a power outage.

[Avola]

Power has been going off and on all week. Generators are at the ready and so are emergency lamps. Winds are downright scary at times but of course we live on top of a tall hill so that doesn't help. The good news is that the house is really well insulated. So far, we have seen plenty of trees on the road but thankfully nothing near the house. The barn is ok, as one of the advantages of living on a hill is good drainage. Horses are a bit spooked but happy to be safely tucked inside. I had to drive to Eugene yesterday and it was definitely a wild ride. On the way back I actually saw a snow plow scooping the hail off the road. Supposedly we'll get a few days break starting on Monday. Can't wait.

[Rhianon]

"Snow plow scooping the hail off the road"!!!

[hoopoe]

I have only seen that happen once here in Redmond

[Avola]

Batting down again sigh.....6 inches of rain predicted between tonight and Sunday morning. Winds supposedly not as strong but more thunderstorms and hail are going to be in the mix.

[Koolkat]

We only lost our power for ~24 hours last Wed/Th - and that feels like dodging a bullet when we've had it go out for as long as 5 days in the past. It's been several years since we lost power and while I wouldn't wish flooding, etc., on anyone, the weather the past few years has been downright odd. I'm actually somewhat relieved to being having a very wet fall/early winter again, this is much more typical of the 30 years I have been here than the dry periods we've been having at this time of year.

[hoopoe]

I agree. This feels totally normal

Driving home late last night ( saturday) my car was really pushed around on the freeway. There was a state truck along the road pulling back downed limbs and inspecting fallen tree on the 405 in Kirkland

Happy skiers here, all the areas are open and the roads are drivable.

have seen stunning video of Skykomish river and this is not even at the highest water in the last 2 weeks ( highest was 100K CFS)
Hypnotic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzbX6KITkpo

[Kyra's Mom]

Hypnotic...and deafening. That is A LOT of water.

Susan

[Avola]

More thunderstorms, wind and lots of hail today. The indoor I haul to is out of commission as the wind took out a wall two night ago
No loss of power though and no flooding at least here at home. At the bottom of the hill is a whole 'nother story. The road going through the adjacent neighborhoodi s completely flooded and cars have to be VERY careful going through. Also an acquaintance's barn is completely surrounded by water and if it doesn't let up for at least a few hours her horses will be going swimming. Not a good thing. Here the worst damage is the graveled trail/road going through the property which is now a ditch with a large pile of gravel at the bottom of the hill.

[hoopoe]

Ugh what a mess, I hope you have a little cat that can resurface the path

clear skies here, today and with the loss of cloud cover, the temps have fallen. I assume this means ice in the morning

[Rhianon]

We froze solid last night--a surprising drop in temperature.

[Avola]

Clear skies tonight! Yippee!!!! Cold, really cold, but we're actually supposed to see the sun tomorrow and Wednesday! Let it frost!

[Fatcat]

And here we go again, six weather advisories for our area, and our creek is getting ready to flood the driveway. That hasn't happened for almost 20 years. Oh, and the wind starts tonight so I'm filling the bathtub now in case we lose power.

[Rhianon]

We lost power last night. Our house is in the lee of a hill. We rarely feel the winds. Last night was something else! It sounded like a train going past.

Hang tight you guys!

[Avola]

Ugh....here we go....power just came back after being out all day but lights still flickering like mad. Wind howling, rain coming down in sheets. 6 to 9 inches of rain predicted between today and Saturday.

[Code3]

Our generators are charged and filled with gas. We're ready!

[piedmontfields]

Be safe y'all! You have had an intense stretch.

[Fatcat]

We ended up getting 4" in 36 hours here. Today was a break in the rain, thankfully, as they're saying a bigger rain event is coming on Monday. Of course my two stand out in it rather than in their nice dry barn. Makes me really miss my old Arab who could stay bone dry during these soarkers, he loved his stall. Thankfully they have good turnout sheets, and backup turnouts while the others are drying out.

[Avola]

Fatcat, must be an Arab thing. My old guy wants in at the first sign of rain, loves his fluffed up stall, naps like a champ. The others, as much as they like being out of the storms, don't particularly mind getting wet.
Last night was hell. Wind went nuts and a number of trees went down, thankfully not near the house or the barn. Today we actually saw the sun for about an hour. Now of course is pouring again. The road at the bottom of the hill is completely flooded.

[Code3]

I drove up to Newberg yesterday from Eugene. We passed one grass seed field that was a giant lake. It was so deep the field fencing was under water, so over 4' deep. Pretty stunning visual but I was driving and couldn't get photos.

[Kyra's Mom]

Nothing like you guys on/near the coast are getting but I am watching my horse to make sure she doesn't start growing moss .

This is desert. I think I have only seen the sun once in the last 2 weeks...and then the wind was blowing 25-30 mph so cold . Soggy and wet in the valley. The ski areas however are happy and we so need that snow to replenish reservoirs so I guess I will just shut up and be glad I have an indoor arena to ride in.

Susan