Strong Wind — Tacoma Area, Washington

2020-09-07 to 2020-09-08 · Tacoma Area, Washington

Event narrative

Strong easterly winds resulted in an estimated 2500 customers without power by the early morning hours of September 8. During the afternoon of the 7th, tree limbs fell on power lines in the Fife and Browns Point areas, with around 5000 customers losing power.

Several brush fires were reported during this period of strong winds: a brush fire closed SR 512 at I-5, a brush fire closed S 56th St, a brush fire closed the I-5 offramp to Martin Way in Olympia, a brush fire blocked several lanes of I-5 near Federal Way.

Wider weather episode

Around Labor Day and through the first full week of September, an anomalous upper level ridge set up over the Northwest US, with a thermal trough developing along the Pacific Northwest Coast with high pressure east of the Cascades at the surface. This setup was responsible for the development of strong easterly winds and high wildfire/fire spread threat. The generation of numerous wildfires then led to a prolonged period of poor air quality.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 922537. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.