SEATTLE — Residents have one day of relatively calm weather before another windy storm could blow through western Washington.
The National Weather Service (NWS) has extended a Storm Warning for the waters off the Washington coast through Saturday morning and issued a Wind Advisory for the East Puget Sound which will go into effect Thursday night and remain through Friday morning.
A bomb cyclone formed off the coast on Tuesday, resulting in strong winds across the region. The storm led to widespread damage, leaving hundreds of thousands of people without power, injuring several people and killing at least two women.
Officials are warning some people could be without power for days.
Looking toward the rest of the week, KING 5 Chief Meteorologist Mike Everett said more weather is on the way — specifically to areas just barely beginning to recover from Tuesday’s impact.
What’s to come likely won’t be as intense as Tuesday’s bomb cyclone, Everett said.
“Don’t expect anything like what we just saw,” Everett said of the incoming storm.
While it is unlikely winds will exceed 60 to 70 miles per hour, Everett said vulnerable power poles, trees, or tree limbs could fall with winds of lower intensity.
From Wednesday night into Thursday morning, the Puget Sound area saw coastal showers and storms, with a slight pause expected to come during the daytime hours.
Some of those showers on Wednesday afternoon triggered a tornado warning in Pacific County. Waterspouts were spotted off the coast in southwest Washington, though, none were reported to make landfall.
The bomb cyclone is still well-formed and appears to look like a hurricane, Everett said, but it has weakened and moved slightly farther away.
On Thursday, you can expect showers and sunbreaks throughout the day with temperatures in the mid-40s to 50 degrees.
Friday is when another system brings heavy rain in the foothills, snow in the mountains and wind across the region.
KING 5 will likely activate First Alert for this weather event because it could affect lives, property and travel in the region.
Meteorologist Everett said between 2 a.m. to 5 a.m. early Friday morning is when winds could exceed 40 mph in the Cascade foothills. Most severely, this will hit areas that are already dealing with downed trees and power outages from Enumclaw to Sammamish and beyond.
The NWS has advised that the system could blow down tree limbs and result in additional power outages. Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands are still without power, resulting from Tuesday's storm.
The waters off the coast will also remain dangerous through this weekend. The Storm Warning will remain in place until 4 a.m. on Saturday. Strong winds will lead to hazardous seas with the potential to capsize or damage vessels. Visibility will also be reduced.
