WHATCOM COUNTY, Wash. — A weather station located in Ferndale reported a rise in temperature from 40°F to about 55°F and another on the Sandy Point spit reported an increase in sustained wind speeds from 15mph to 60mph. Both occurred shortly after 1am today, Monday, December 26th.
By 6am, lowland areas were reporting temperatures approaching 60°F.
A wind gust of 81mph was reported at Sandy Point about 1:55am and another gust of 56mph in Ferndale about 5:20am.
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Click for more informationPuget Sound Energy reported at 12:30am there were nearly 300 of their customers’ addresses in Whatcom County without power. By 6am, that number had increased to over 3,861 and nearly 10,000 were without power across the Puget Sound area.
About 5:45am, forecasters in the Seattle office of the National Weather Service issued a wind advisory for San Juan County, western Whatcom County and the Admiralty Inlet. The advisory warned of the potential for sustained south winds of 25 to 35mph with gusts up to 50mph. The advisory is in effect until 10am this morning.
Moderate rains accompanied the weather system that brought the warmer air and gusty winds.
Forecasters this morning said to expect high winds to return Tuesday afternoon as another weather system is expected to bring another round of gusty winds increasing late in the day over the inland areas.
Whatcom News readers are encouraged to stay up to date with the current weather forecast for their specific locations via the Whatcom News Weather page.