High Wind — Olympics, Washington

2021-01-12 to 2021-01-13 · Olympics, Washington

Event narrative

A wind gust of 58 mph was reported near Toms Creek in Clallam County shortly after 3am. Winds began to pick up across Clallam County during the late evening hours on the 12th and continued into the early morning hours of the 13th. Other wind gust reports around the county ranged from 40 mph to 55 mph. Owl Mountain reported a wind gust of 58 mph.

Wider weather episode

A compact area of low pressure passed over the northwest corner of the Olympic Peninsula during the evening hours of January 12 into the early morning hours of Wednesday January 13, producing a very strong pressure gradient as pressure quickly began to rise on its backside. This led to a short period of strong winds, some of which on the backside of the low was channeled and enhanced by topography.

By daybreak on the 13th, as the wind began to subside, over 550,000 power outages were reported across the area.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 939386. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.