The first storm of the fall season blew into the North Olympic Peninsula on Tuesday, with a second storm forecast today and a third Saturday.
The good news is that, by the time the line of storms streaming from China move out of the area, enough rain is expected to have fallen in the Olympic Mountains to begin reviving rivers closed to fishing on Monday because of low water levels.
Some 1,025 people lost electrical power on the North Olympic Peninsula — about 600 in East Jefferson County and about 425 in Clallam County — on Tuesday morning before the winds calmed and blue sky peeked through the clouds.
The largest outages were in Discovery Bay in Jefferson County and in the Mount Pleasant area in Clallam County, with scattered outages elsewhere as winds pruned weak branches from trees.
Most were back on the grid by 4:30 p.m. Tuesday. Repairs were continuing at that time on several power lines down on Middlepoint Road in Jefferson County.
Public utility districts braced for more outages today.
“It’s the first shakeout when you get those first winds through here,” said Nicole Clark, communications manager for Clallam County Public Utility District, adding that “we’re a little more concerned about [today].”
Said Will O’Donnell, Jefferson County Public Utility District communications specialist: “We’re definitely bracing for the coming couple of days,” but he added, “The crews were out right away today and got everything up quickly and we expect the same level of performance next time.”
Top wind gusts were measured Tuesday at 48 mph at Fairchild International Airport in Port Angeles, and 38 mph at Port Townsend and at Quillayute Airport near Forks, said Jay Albrecht, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Seattle.
A bigger blow is expected today.
The front expected to arrive at about 8 a.m. is likely to be “a little more significant” than the storm that hit the area Tuesday, Albrecht said.
Heavy winds are expected on the east and west sides of the Peninsula, with gusts up to 50 mph or even 55 mph on the Pacific Coast, he said.
The wind won’t rise until late morning and is expected to extend through late afternoon, Albrecht said.
A high wind warning is in effect from 11 am. to to 11 p.m. today.
“We’re expecting a more effective pruning of the trees and more impact on power outages,” Albrecht said.
Today’s storm is likely to bring more rain than Tuesday’s, according to the meteorologist.
Port Townsend received about a tenth of an inch of rain Tuesday, while Port Angeles had about three tenths of an inch and 1.33 inches was measured at Quillayute Airport.
Today forecasters expect about 0.4 inches of rain in Port Townsend and some 1.2 inches in Port Angeles, with totals picking up toward the west. Forks could receive 3.49 inches and some west slopes of the Olympics could get up to 8 inches, Albrecht said.
“We’re filling the tub” of the rivers and will have “a more full tub as we get into the weekend,” he said.
The Quillayute and Hoh rivers were closed to sport fishing and treaty fisheries Monday because low flow could impede salmon migration.
The state Department of Fish and Wildlife also closed the Sol Duc and Dickey rivers to all fishing and sections of the Bogachiel and Calawah rivers until the levels rise. The Olympic National Park prohibited fishing in the Quillayute, Dickey and Hoh River mouths and the portions of the rivers within park boundaries.
The low flow in rivers “is going to start changing pretty quickly,” Albrecht said.
Forecasters don’t know how strong Saturday’s storm will be yet but some models say it could be as big as today’s, he said.
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Executive Editor Leah Leach can be reached at 360-417-3530 or at lleach@peninsuladailynews.com.
A kite boarder makes use of the wind at North Beach in Port Townsend after the rain cleared Tuesday. (Cydney McFarland/Peninsula Daily News)
Port Angeles street department workers clear a fallen tree at Fifth and Oak streets on Tuesday, the result of a wave of wind and rain that rolled over the North Olympic Peninsula on Tuesday morning. (Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News)
