FAQ on Saturday Wind; Warnings Issued

[Updated – 10:55am Saturday with new peak wind times]

What does a High Wind Warning for the Portland-Vancouver area really mean?

The National Weather Service in Portland issued a High Wind Warning for the I-5 Corridor for Saturday, April 7, 2018. This warning extends from about Kelso down through Eugene. So Portland, Vancouver, Hillsboro, Happy Valley – we are all covered by this High Wind Warning.

Ironically, the same thing happened on April 7, 2017. We were under a High Wind Warning and Portland had a peak wind gust of 56mph! 

What I’ve found after doing weather for more than 20 years in Portland is that there can be a lot of confusion about what a warning like this actually means and if you should do anything to prepare.

So, with that in mind, here is a quick FAQ on Saturday’s wind.

Note: I’ll be doing the evening weather on KATU News this weekend, so catch up with me there or look for my Facebook Live reports on the KATU Facebook page on Saturday.

[Q:] How strong will winds be this Saturday?

[A:]  In the I-5 Corridor, it looks like most peak gusts will be in the 40-55mph range. Along the coast, peak gusts should be in the 60-75mph range.

[Q:] Which direction will the wind be coming from?

[A:] The strongest wind will be coming from the south. I get asked about this all the time. In meteorology, if we say winds will be “south 40-55mph” we mean they are coming from the south.

[Q:] When are the strongest winds expected?

[A:] The High Wind Warnings typically cover a wider time-frame than when we expect the actual peak winds. Times for the High Wind Warnings have been revised: it’s Saturday morning through early Sunday morning for the Coast and Coast Range; and 1pm Saturday through mid-morning Sunday for the I-5 corridor. I think the highest gusts are most likely through early evening along the coast; and probably mid-afternoon to early evening in the I-5 corridor. However, it will continue to be gusty into the early morning hours on Sunday, with wind speeds gradually ramping down.  

[Q:] Can we expect power outages or damage from this storm?

[A:] Power outages, yes. Last year when we had our April 7 storm (peak gust of 56mph in Portland) more than 150,000 customers lost power in the metro area. So it’s a good bet that some of us will lose power but we’ll have to find out together how many of us do. You could bring down some strategic branches or trees onto major lines and suddenly that number skyrockets. 

Damage is possible but most of us will just have messy yards afterward.  Damage would mainly be related to trees blown down into a car or house or perhaps a large branch doing the same. This is where we find out which branches did not fare well over the winter! There are some other random issues that pop up like patio furniture blown off decks and things like that. So we’ll just see how this goes.

[Q:] What should I do to prepare?

[A:] While I can’t say what, exactly, you should do. Here is what I’ll do this afternoon to prepare:

• Put away our lightest patio furniture (why did I get it out so early?!?)
• Make sure we have flashlights with batteries that actually work (did the kids leave it on again?)
• Fill up both our cars with gas (I do this before every storm where power outages are possible, in case we’re in the area that goes without power for a while)

[Q:] Anything else?

[A:] We’ll also get a good soaking from this storm-so sideways rain will be featured along with a chance of thunderstorms later Saturday. 

[Q:] Why didn’t you ask the question I had?

[A:] What? Did I forget to ask your question? Ask it in the comments below, I’ll see it and post your question with the answer.

Have a great Saturday and definitely, definitely, plan on a bad hair day!