Over the past 24 hours, the Northwest has experienced an unusually large burst of April rain – both in terms of wind strength and longevity.
Consider 24-hour maximum gusts ending at 7 p.m. Monday (see below). Some locations hit top speeds of 60 mph along the coast and over NW Washington. Even the eastern side of the area is windy, with winds common above 50 mph.
Want to be more impressive? Here’s a close-up view of the southern Cascades and eastern Washington. Some locations hit 80-100 mph!
With such strong winds over eastern Washington in the spring, you can bet the dust will blow, and the event did not disappoint (see WSDOT image in Davenport, WA).
Why is the wind so strong?
I talked about the strong jet stream coming to our shores from the Pacific Ocean. And this jet stream is associated with a strong north-south pressure difference, enhanced by a 978 hPa low pressure center moving into British Columbia.
Take a look at the sea level pressure forecast at 8am this morning. The solid lines are isolines – constant sea level pressure lines.
Mama Mia! … there is a lot of isobar and so there is a strong pressure gradient to push strong winds from the south. Strong winds from the west… and sustained winds at 25,000 to 35,000 ft are about 120 knots (about 140 mph)
But what really stood out today was the prolonged period of strong winds — more than 24 hours in some locations. Periods of such strong winds are unusual around here.
But that’s not all. A cold front has moved through this morning, with cold, showy conditions in the background. As a result, today’s temperature in the west is about 10 degrees Fahrenheit lower than usual.
And are you ready for a flash heat wave? On Thursday, as high pressure builds up east of us, strong winter currents will send temperatures west of Washington to nearly 70 degrees Fahrenheit!
