Peak wind speeds topped 100 miles per hour in Washington’s higher terrain Thursday! Wind gusts of 50-60 mph in many lowland towns/cities brought down trees, power lines and even closed Interstate 5 for a period of time.
The wind gusts peaked in the late-morning and early-afternoon before dying down *a little bit* in the late-afternoon Thursday.
FYI – When a severe thunderstorm warning is issued, it means that damaging wind speeds of 58 mph or stronger are possible. Thus, the wind gusts on Thursday in Washington were indeed high enough to be considered severe.
The rest of Thursday evening will be quite gusty, but not as damaging as earlier.
The core of the strongest wind will continue pushing inland, across the Rocky Mountains. The wind core will diminish slowly, but still provide a roar of wind into Idaho, Montana and Wyoming early Friday morning.
The Northwest will get a break from the blustery/strong wind Friday and most of Saturday. Saturday night and Sunday, another core of wind will arrive. This time, it looks like it will be centered more in Oregon.
The next wind maximum will be carrying the next storm system into the Pacific Northwest. This will spread another round of moderate to heavy rain and snow across the Coastal Range and Cascades of Oregon and Washington on Saturday night and Sunday.
For WeatherNation, Meteorologist Steve Glazier