As forecast, a strong front moved through the area this morning bringing with it strong southeasterly winds. The National Weather Service issued a High Wind Warning yesterday advising gusts to 60mph were expected.
There had been some differences between computer weather forecast models as to when wind gusts were expected to climb over 45mph. The earliest predicted sometime after midnight and the latest pointed to after sunrise.
According to a weather station near Ferndale High School, gusts reached 45mph much earlier than the computer models expected. By 6:30pm Saturday, gusts rose past the 45mph mark. And by 9:45pm, gusts were reported past the 60mph mark.
Since midnight there have been gusts reported over 70mph. Two about 1:35am at 75mph and two about 4:25am at 73mph. Gusts have remained at or below 60mph since 5:30am.
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Click for more informationIn comparison, wind gusts recorded at the Bellingham International Airport peaked at 55mph just before 7am.
As of 7am, most of the Ferndale area remains with power with one big exception. Puget Sound Energy (PSE) reports nearly 800 of their customers on the western half of Lummi Island are without power. The outage began about 4am and is blamed on trees/vegetation. As of 7am, PSE’s estimate for restoring power is 12:30pm.
Update – Another outage was reported at 7:15am in the Arnie and Hamm Roads area. PSE reports 30 customers without power. The standard 2-hour initial estimate for restoring power has been given.
PSE reports almost 4,000 customers are without power throughout the Puget Sound area.
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There have been reports of trees down across roads blocking lanes of travel including one encroaching on a lane of I-5 south of Bellingham. Drivers should be prepared for such surprises as well as other debris in the roads as a result of the power winds.
The High Wind Warning remains in effect until noon today for the north interior areas, including Ferndale.