La Niña wreaking havoc in the Pacific Northwest bringing more wind, rain

The latest seasonal weather outlook was released by the National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center Thursday morning.

The outlook continues the trend of La Niña through the winter, meaning good odds on cooler than average temperatures and wetter than normal precipitation through February.

Compared with El Niño and ‘Neutral’ conditions, La Niña is ranked number one for producing strong damaging wind storms for the Pacific Northwest. Tuesday night’s ‘bomb cyclone’ was yet another example.

Tuesday Night’s Storm Strongest Since December 2006 Wind Storm

That storm produced the strongest wind storm since the Hanukkah Eve Wind Storm of December 2006. In that storm, 1.8 million Western Washington residents were without power. 15 lives were lost, 11 of them from carbon monoxide poisoning in the cool days following the storm as people tried to stay warm and cook food indoors with barbeques and other heating elements.

Wind gusts were up to 100 mph along the outer coastal region and around 80 mph gusts in interior locations including the Puget Sound region.

‘Massive devastation:’ Thousands still without power after storm in WA

A ‘bomb cyclone’ is defined as intensifying at least 24 millibars in atmospheric pressure in 24 hours or less. Tuesday’s storm was unique, at one point dropping 27 millibars in pressure in just six hours. At the lowest point, the center of low pressure about 400 miles offshore dropped to 952 millibars. That was lower than the 1962 Columbus Day Storm that bottomed out at 960 millibars of pressure but moved north hugging the Oregon and Washington coasts with wind gusts to 150 mph along the coast and 100 mph plus from Eugene, Oregon to Vancouver, BC.

Fortunately, Tuesday’s storm remained further offshore. If closer, it could have been far more damaging. With the storm center well offshore, it created strong pressure differences from Eastern Washington. Winds focused through gaps in the Cascade Mountains produced the strong easterly winds with the bulk of the impactful damage along the foothills and spreading into parts of the Western Washington lowlands. At the peak, around 660,000 customers were without power in the wake of the wind storm.

A New Storm Developing Friday

The center of Tuesday’s storm has continued to weaken and drift northwestward further away from the coast. Circulating underneath this storm though is another developing low pressure system that will intensity off the coast through Friday yet not be as strong and impactful as Tuesday night’s winds, but offer another windy day Friday. Wind gusts along the coast are forecast to reach 50 to 60 mph.

This new system will again create strong pressure differences from Eastern Washington westward, meaning another surge of gusty easterly winds from gaps in the Cascades ramping up Friday and continue into Friday night. This time, wind gusts could reach 45 to 55 mph along the foothills and extend into the lowlands with gusts to 40 mph or so. Trees that were weakened in Tuesday night’s storm may be vulnerable to this new surge of winds Friday.

La Niña and Strong Pacific Northwest Wind Storms

La Niña is when sea surface temperatures in the Eastern Pacific tropical waters well west of Peru are cooler than normal, as opposed to last winter’s El Niño when those same waters are warmer than average. Neutral is when those sea surface temperatures are close to average. As a result, the North Pacific storm track spends more time at our latitude versus further south during El Niño.

Related news: History of big windstorms in the Northwest

When it comes to Pacific Northwest wind storms, La Niña ranks number one, with Neutral conditions a close second. Experiencing one or more strong wind storms for the remainder of this fall and winter cannot be ruled out.

A Break Finally Coming

The source of all this active windy weather has been an upper level low that has had the parking meter running in the Northeast Pacific and Gulf of Alaska all week. This system is forecast to finally move inland by early next week with drier calmer weather on tap by then.

In the meantime, the associated cooler air will produce more showers with snow levels during the coming weekend hovering around 3000 feet. Motorists with plans to drive over any of the remaining open Cascade highways should be prepared for winter weather driving conditions including carrying chains.

Crystal Mountain has announced they will open for skiing on Friday with limited runs. With La Niña anticipated to continue through the winter, the associated weather promises a healthy mountain snowpack by next spring, great news for snow enthusiasts and water supply officials.

Ted Buehner is the KIRO Newsradio meteorologist. You can read more of Ted’s stories here and follow him on X.