Huge storm pounds Pacific Northwest with hurricane force winds

A powerful Pacific storm smashed ashore along the Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia coasts Monday, bringing hurricane force winds, torrential rains, and widespread flooding to the coast. Wind gusts over hurricane force (74 mph) were common along the coast, and one location, the aptly named Destruction Island in Washington, had sustained hurricane force winds (74 mph), with gusts to 93 mph. Winds gusting to 76 mph generated seas up to 48 feet high off the Oregon coast, and buoy 46050, 23 miles west of Newport, was torn from its mooring by 40 foot seas. Debris flow warnings have been posted for the steep mountain areas of the Oregon Coast Range near Tillamook. Debris flows are dangerous rapidly moving landslides. Rainfall amounts exceeding ten inches in the past day and a half have been measured in the North Oregon Coast Range. Rainfall amounts over a foot were estimated by the Seattle and Portland, OR radar (Figure 1).


Figure 1. Total rain from the Portland, OR radar for the Dec 3-5, 2007 storm.

Wind gusts exceeding hurricane force (74 mph) measured in OR and WA:

... Washington coast...
Cape Disappointment... ... ... ... ... ... .. 104 mph
Destruction Island... ... ... ... ... ... ... 93 mph
Toke Point (north end of Willapa Bay).. 75 mph

... North Oregon coast...
Bay City (near Tillamook)... ... ... ... ... 129 mph
Cape Meares (elev. 1500 ft)... ... ... ... 114 mph before power loss
Rockaway Beach... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 104 mph
Tillamook Bay tide gage... ... ... ... ... 100 mph
Astoria (west slope)... ... ... ... ... ... 86 mph (sust. 45-50 mph)
Clatsop Spit... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 86 mph (sust.70 mph)
Astoria Airport... ... ... ... ... ... ...... 85 mph
Garibaldi... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 81 mph
Youngs Bay... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... .. 80 mph
Cannon Beach... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 80 mph
Tillamook (downtown)... ... ... ... ... ... 75 mph
Tillamook Airport... ... ... ... ... ... ... 74 mph

... Central Oregon coast...
Lincoln City... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 125 mph
Yaquina Hwy 101 bridge (Newport) ... ... 88 mph (sust. 45-50 mph)
Lincoln City (other report)... ... ... ... 85 mph
Newport Airport... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 83 mph (sust. 58 mph)
Newport Jetty... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... .. 82 mph
Sea Lion Caves... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... . 81 mph (sust. 40-45 mph)
Agate Beach... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... . 78 mph (lost power)
Hatfield Science Center... ... ... ... ... . 75 mph

... Oregon Coast Range...
Mt. Hebo... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... . 91 mph
Cedar RAWS... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... .. 74 mph

... Cascade foothills...
Sugarloaf Mtn (SW of Oakridge)... ... ... 81 mph (sust. 35-40 mph)

... Cascades...
Timberline (elev. 7001 ft)... ... ... ... . 99 mph (sust. 60 mph)
Govt Camp Ski Bowl... ... ... ... ... ... ... 90 mph

The forecast
The storm, with a central pressure of 965 mb, is expected to move ashore Tuesday morning over the British Columbia coast and weaken. The strongest winds and heaviest rain have already past for the coast, but the inland Cascade Mountain range will see another 4-6 inches of rain by Tuesday afternoon. Flooding is possible Tuesday on all the rivers in western Washington and Oregon.

Jeff Masters