The first storm of the season, eerily bringing 60 mph winds and heavy rains to parts of the North Olympic Peninsula while sparing others, isn’t over.
More rains — sometimes heavy — are expected today, but without winds as strong as those Saturday night and early Sunday, a National Weather Service forecaster said Sunday night.
Meteorologist Johnny Burg told the Peninsula Daily News that the Peninsula should expect periods of rain today and early Tuesday.
“We are expecting breezy to windy — so [winds] between 15 to 20 mph or between 20 and 30 mph,” he said.
“That should last until about after midnight on Tuesday [morning], when the wind will start to die down.”
The first storm of autumn blew onto the Peninsula from the Pacific, and the ocean coast bore the brunt of the force.
Quillayute Airport west of Forks recorded sustained winds of 31 mph and gusts as high as 60 mph at about 1 p.m. Sunday, the Weather Service said.
Despite the high winds, little was visible to show for it, said Forks Mayor Bryon Monohon on Sunday afternoon.
“I haven’t had anything at all reported,” he said.
“There are some windswept things here and there, but there wasn’t any damage in town.”
The storm, which included periods of heavy rain, wasn’t typical for Forks, though, Monohon said.
“It was a really strange storm,” he said.
“We had thunder and lightning. Then it would rain like the dickens, and then nothing. Then it would start all over again.”
The Jefferson County Courthouse tower weather station in Port Townsend logged winds in the wee hours Sunday, with a peak gust of 34 mph just before 1 a.m.
Clallam County Sheriff’s Sgt. Nick Turner said no problems were called in to the Sheriff’s Office as a result of the storm.
Likewise, Lt. Randy Manus at East Jefferson County Fire-Rescue said no wind or rain issues had been reported to any of the six stations.
“It seems like we were the eye of the storm,” he said.
Port Angeles saw sustained winds of about 13 mph and gusts up to 20 mph at the height of the first storm about 1 p.m. Sunday.
Sequim had higher gusts at about 28 mph, but the sustained winds stayed in the single digits.
A sailboat washed ashore in Sequim Bay after it dragged the buoy it was tethered to, said John Wayne Marina Assistant Harbormaster Tyler Kish.
The boat was not in John Wayne Marina, but had been tied near there, he said.
Hurricane Ridge in Olympic National Park received its first batch of snow for fall-winter.
About 3 inches had fallen by Sunday morning, according to the Northwest Weather and Avalanche Center’s weather station atop the mountain.
Winds atop the ridge reached gusts of 28 mph with sustained winds of about 18 mph at about 6 a.m. Sunday.
Burg said he didn’t expect the snow level in the Olympics to drop below 3,500 feet this week.
Other areas of Western Washington were hit harder Saturday night and Sunday morning, with the storm dumping heavy to moderate rain across the area
The Skokomish River in Mason County was at the edge of its banks Sunday.
The steady assault of waves and wind demolished a weekend cabin at Washaway Beach, south of Westport in Grays Harbor County.
Across the Strait of Juan de Fuca, heavy winds caused power outages across lower Vancouver Island on Sunday.
Most of the outages were caused by trees falling across wires, the electric utility B.C. Hydro said.
Most customers had their lights back on by Sunday afternoon.
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Peninsula Daily News’ news partners KOMO-TV in Seattle and Times Colonist in Victoria contributed to this report.
PDN reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.
