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5:30pm
Forecasters estimated at 4:30pm that winds through the interior, especially the north
would peak over the next hour or so. That forecast would put the worst of the winds behind us at this point.
Below is the wind speed tracking as reported by a weather station near Ferndale High School. The graph begins at midnight and denotes each hour with white and blue backgrounds. The measures on the left side indicate wind speed in miles-per-hour (mph).
It would appear the Ferndale area has been spared damage seen in western Washington locations further south.
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Click for more information3pm
The winds returned during the last hour. Gusts in the mid-60mph range were recorded about 2:45pm.
The National Weather Service (NWS) extended their high wind warning another hour from 9pm to 10pm tonight. This has since been revised and expiration returned to 9pm.
2pm
Updated forecasts indicate winds will pick up during the late afternoon and remain strong for a few hours into the evening.
Environment Canada (EC) forecasts high winds with gusts to 56mph between 2pm and 5pm for areas near the US-Canadian border.
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Click for more information1pm
So far it appears the winds are late or we may have been spared the 60mph gusts expected from late morning and through the afternoon. But, as previously noted, the high wind warning has been extended to 9pm.
The great majority of the outage events Puget Sound Power reports to be dealing with at this time (1pm) are located south of Skagit and Island Counties.
The strongest gusts so far today have been in the upper-50mph range but not quite exceeding 60mph. They occurred around 5am and 12pm today.
10am
National Weather Service (NWS) has extended their High Wind Warning to 9pm tonight with the strongest wind still expected late this morning through late this afternoon.
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Click for more informationForecast models are now agreeing with the low pressure system crossing about the middle of Vancouver Island. This is part of the scenario for more powerful winds through northern Puget Sound.
Wind speeds began increasing again after lofting between 6am and 7am. Several gusts above 50mph were recorded between 7am and 9am.
Shortly before 9am, Puget Sound Energy reported 8 Ferndale neighbors were without power on Vista Drive between Gardiner Drive and Sunrise Street. The outage was likely the result of high winds this morning as trees/vegetation are being blamed. No estimate for restoring power has been given and with the extensive number of outages being dealt with, it may be restored before notice is given.
Update 10:11am: PSE reports power has been restored to these neighbors.
7am
Little has changed over the past hour beyond the onset of light rain and wind speeds have flattened, suspending their upward trend. Wind gust speeds have been in the upper-30mph to mid-40mph range.
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6am
Environment Canada issued a wind warning for the Fraser Valley and areas to the west including Abbotsford. It forewarns of southerly wind gusts up to 50mph that will begin easing later this afternoon as the low weakens and moves out of the region. EC is forecasting the system will move across Vancouver Island just north of Port Alberni, nearer the middle of the island (read what this means in the 5am update below).
The current NWS high wind warning says to expect southerly sustained winds of 30 to 40mph with gusts to 60mph.
5am
Ferndale area neighbors are waking or have been woken by powerful gusty winds this morning, Monday, November 13th. Gusts to 58mph have already been reported.
As of 3:30am this morning, NWS Seattle office forecasters note there is still some disagreement in the weather forecasting computer models about the how much the winds will impact our area. Models disagree on where the low pressure system will cross Vancouver Island. Winds will not be as powerful if the crossing occurs nearer the southern tip of the island, as some models are predicting. But other models show the crossing occurring mid-island or even further north which will produce more powerful winds through the northern Puget Sound.
Click for more informationAn obvious shift in weather was recorded by a weather station located near Ferndale High School between 3am and 3:3am when the temperature rose 6° and sustained winds changed from single-digit northerlies to south-easterlies over 20mph.
Winds speed have continued to climb with a gust of 58mph recorded at 4:59am.
Puget Sound Energy reports nearly 24,000 of their customers are without power around the Puget Sound region but there are no outages currently reported in the Ferndale area (although over 2,800 in south Bellingham are without power). It is likely reporting and providing estimates of when power will be restored will not be as up-to-date or even available if the number of outages overwhelms the system.