It was about 3pm on Thursday May 3, 2012.
Like someone flipped a switch on a wind machine, strong gusts started hitting the Portland-Vancouver metro area, and the rest of the Willamette Valley.
The ‘switch’ was a storm center or area of ‘low pressure’ that moved inland just north of Portland. These storm centers draw air toward themselves. In this case, a whole lot of air. We notice that as a south wind racing through our skies.
Peak Gusts On KOIN Local 6 PinPoint Weather Network
If you watch the news, you know I like to brag about having  network of more than 100 live weather sensors in the metro area. They got put to good use as the winds blew and we show real times gusts on the air. Here are the peak gusts:
- 46mph Oregon City
- 45mph Portland International Airport
- 42mph Aurora
- 42mph Alpenrose Dairy
- 41mph Lake Oswego
- 40mph West Linn
- 40mph Gresham
- 40mph Troutdale
- 40mph Salem
- 37mph Vancouver
As the storm center moved north and weakened, so did the winds. But about 90 minutes of strong gusts knocked out power to more than 10,000 and brought down trees all over the place! And then, the wind was gone. It was ‘another spring afternoon’ in the northwest.
Weather recipe was Clouds, Rain, Sun and then lots of Wind. Finished product was a soggy mess!