Cliff Mass: Thunderstorm to shake up rush hour Wednesday

A sizable storm is headed for Western Washington Wednesday.

Atmospheric Sciences Professor at the University of Washington, Cliff Mass, told “The Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH Tuesday to expect a thunderstorm Wednesday afternoon and evening.

Mass said the Storm Prediction Center has an area of enhanced concern over the Northwest.

“We’re getting very high values of something called CAPE, convective available potential energy,” he explained.

CAPE, he added, is used to measure how much energy there potentially could be in a thunderstorm. Mass said the thunderstorm will bring wind and lightning but will be most prominent in the Cascades.

“Thunderstorms are going to be on the east side and towards the foothills of the Cascades,” he explained. “I think it’s going to decrease as you get over Seattle and over to the Kitsap. So, it is definitely going to be an east-west gradient of this thunderstorm. So expect to see it on the Cascades and on the foothills and cascades. I think that’s where it’s really going to hit.”

Storm could cause power outages

Mass said the storm may knock out power locally, but the damage will not be nearly as broad as the big cyclone and wind events.

“There could very well be a few localized power outages, particularly in the east side, but it’s not going to be all over the place,” he said.

What about tornadoes?

KIRO 7 Meteorologist Nick Allard forecasted a low tornado threat but overall a greater chance to see the wind event in the region.

To which Mass said, “Tornadoes, I wouldn’t bet on it.”

“I mean, there have been tornadoes here, but they’re very rare,” he continued.

Listen to The Jason Rantz Show on weekday afternoons from 3-7 p.m. on KTTH 770 AM (HD Radio 97.3 FM HD-Channel 3). Subscribe to the podcast here. Follow Jason Rantz on X, Instagram, YouTube and Facebook.

Follow @https://twitter.com/jasonrantz