An exciting weather day.
The National Weather Service put out a tornado warning for Kitsap County through Bainbridge Island, including telling folks to TAKE COVER NOW!
And for some reason, the warnings caused smartphones to beep all over central Puget Sound.
There was no tornado observed as far as I can tell. The warning was based on the radar showing intense precipitation (including hail) and the Doppler radar capability hinting at some rotation. The image below shows the intense radar return and the bottom panel shows the Doppler velocities, which suggested....but was not definitive-- in indicaing rotation (the dark green and whitish color adjacent to each other near the lightning symbol).
Right now, a band of heavy rain and some thunder are moving through (see current radar below, reddish colors are the most intense).
The National Weather Service has a special weather statement out right now regarding the thunderstorms.
And then there was the wind.
A very strong front came through around 7 AM over central Puget Sound, with winds gusting to around 50 mph. The strongest winds occurred over about 45 minutes, but that was enough to take out power to tens of thousands of customers.
My power went out, right in the middle of a radio interview with John Carlson.
And before the front did its damage, a large pressure difference across the Cascades resulted in 30-45 mph gusts from the east over the western slopes of the Cascades and the eastern suburbs of Seattle. Thousands lost power.
If you are curious, here are the strongest winds observed around the region today so far. Lots of folks experienced gusts more than 40 mph...a speed associated with damage to trees and power failures. Above 50 mph, damage is guaranteed.
The weather action is hardly over. Expect lots of precipitation later this week as a potent atmospheric river brings massive rain and then snow to the Northwest.
At least we won't be talking about drought anymore.
Announcement:
I will be doing a book signing and dinner event at Ivar's Salmon House in Seattle on Wednesday, November 17th (6 PM). You can come just to purchase a book and get it personalized or you can stay for a special dinner, where I will be giving a weather talk. More information on the event is found here. You need to make reservations for the dinner (only 80 spaces available). And information about the new edition of my book is here.
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