High Wind — Lower Garfield & Asotin, Washington

2006-12-15 · Lower Garfield & Asotin, Washington

Wider weather episode

A deep low pressure system tracked east across Vancouver Island and Southern British Columbia. Damaging southwest winds resulted across most of Central and Eastern Washington. Numerous trees and power outages resulted from the storm. Several trees landed on power lines, homes, and vehicles. Areas along the East Slopes of the Cascades were hit especially hard. Heavy snow from the day before combined with strong wind gusts caused significant damage. The Loup Loup transmission went down, which resulted in a power outage to the entire Methow Valley and residences from Loup Loup Pass to Malott. In Mazama, falling trees took out nearly every span of power lines for three miles. The upper Twisp River was hit especially hard with major tree damage. Western Grant County was also hit especially hard with damaging wind gusts of 80-100 MPH from Quincy south to Mattawa and Desert Aire. In Quincy, the city was declared a disaster area with over 60 power poles snapped off the ground by the wind. In Desert Aire, three hangers lost large sections, with airplanes inside receiving extensive damage. In the Washington Palouse, one person was injured when strong winds blew over a freightliner tractor trailer. In Pullman, the College Hill area was hit hardest. In the NE Mountains, southern Pend Oreille and Stevens County were hit hardest, with little damage reported in the northern portions of these counties. Pend Oreille County was declared a disaster area. Some wind gust from the storm include: Lower Garfield and Asotin Counties: Clarkston - estimated 58 MPH gusts; Washington Palouse: Colfax - 77 MPH gust on West Hill, Pullman - 61 MPH gust; Moses Lake area: George - unofficial gust over 100 MPH, Desert Aire - 90 MPH gusts, Priest Rapids Dam - 82 MPH gusts; Spokane area: Spokane - sustained wind 40 MPH with gusts 55-60 MPH; Northeast Mountains: Diamond Lake - Estimated 58 MPH gusts; Okanogan Highlands: 13 NE Keller - 59 MPH gust; Wenatchee Area: Entiat Valley and East Wenatchee - Estimated 65 MPH gusts; Waterville Plateau: Mansfield - 64 MPH gust; Upper Columbia Basin: Irby - 64 MPH gust; Okanogan Valley: Brewster - estimated 55 MPH gust.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 7409. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.