FERNDALE, Wash. — Local weather stations have reported wind gusts mostly below 40mph by 3pm today, September 23rd, with only a handful of gusts close to 50mph. Less than a half-inch of rain has fallen in the Ferndale area between midnight and 3pm today.
Forecasters with the National Weather Service Seattle office say to expect the gusty winds to continue into the evening.
The Ferndale area was relatively unimpacted by today’s winds as of 3pm with the exception of a few localized power outages.
This is the first of series of weather systems bringing rain and occasionally gusty winds expected through Saturday as a result of an atmospheric river pointed toward the Pacific Northwest from out in the Pacific Ocean (indicated by the red arrow in the image below).
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Rainfall is expected to continue and rainfall in the Cascades is expected to continue to be heavy. As a result, the river level forecast for the Nooksack River at Ferndale shows the river rising from about 4-feet to over 13.5-feet between 2pm today and 2pm Monday, September 28th.
No significant road or property impacts are typically expected before the river level reaches the 15-foot mark at Ferndale.
Drivers and property owners are advised to continue monitoring the river level since the forecast can change quickly.