PinPoint Alert: Breezy day with heavy rain at times, isolated thunderstorms

Steady rain continues through most of the area Wednesday morning, with most of the rain being light to moderate with pockets of heavy rain.

We had gusts overnight in the 30, 40, and 50 mph range, however, the strongest wind gusts are over.

At around 1 a.m., the National Weather Service said the peak gusts around that time were 66 mph in Hoquiam, 54 mph in Olympia, 51 mph at Whidbey Island, and 46 mph in Bellingham.

As of 4 a.m., more than 9,500 customers were without power across Western Washington. Most of those were in Lewis and Mason counties, but just an hour later, that number had dropped to 4,000.

We’ll continue to see breezy to windy weather with gusts at the coast and north closer to 50 mph, but the rest of the area will mainly have gusts in the 20 and 30 mph range with the occasional gusts touching 40.

The wind will continue to ease Wednesday morning but will stay breezy to windy on a more normal level around 10 to 30 mph. The steady rain will end later this morning, but we’ll quickly have increasing showers that could be heavy at times with some isolated thunderstorms.

Rain has been very heavy over the Olympics with over 3″ so far and some rivers feeding off the Olympics either will see flooding or will be close. Also, with high tide and heavy rain, the Coast may see some minor localized flooding until later today.

This afternoon will be mild in the mid to upper-50s, with showers and sunbreaks and isolated thunderstorms. Expect breezy to windy weather at times.

In the mountains, snow levels will be 4,000-5,000 feet, so Snoqualmie Pass should receive only rain with a couple inches of slush possible around Stevens Pass. Heavier snow will fall in the North Cascades where a Winter Storm Warning is in effect.

Once we get into the day on Wednesday, we’ll have showers and eventually a few breaks of sunshine too, but it will be mostly cloudy overall.

Downpours of blustery rain will move inland from the coast, and there is the chance for isolated thunderstorms, too. The risk of thunderstorms is greatest near the Pacific beaches where there is a risk for waterspouts we’ll be watching on Wednesday. and coastal flooding with high tides on Wednesday afternoon. Tidal flooding is not expected around the Sound.

Looking ahead

Showers and sunshine will be on tap for Thursday with drier weather on Friday with highs in the upper 40s to near 50. Snow levels will be falling down to the level of Snoqualmie Pass during this time into the weekend so we could get some snow accumulation there.

More clouds with rain are expected for Saturday, increasing late along with breezy conditions into Sunday. Some rain will continue as we round out the weekend with the prospect of some drier times early next week.

©2024 Cox Media Group