EVERETT — A high wind warning has been issued for late Saturday as a storm fueled by the remnants of Typhoon Songda is expected to make landfall in Western Washington.
Forecasters on Friday afternoon said they have more confidence in the storm’s path and that it has the potential to be among the historic windstorms for the area. Downed trees around the county and powerful waves along the coast are anticipated. People should expect power outages, according to the National Weather Service and Snohomish County PUD. The worst of the storm was expected between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. Saturday.
Outdoor events around the county this weekend have been canceled or postponed.
A high wind warning calls for dangerous gusts from 3 p.m. Saturday until 2 a.m. Sunday. Sustained winds of 20 to 40 mph, with gusts up to 60 mph, are possible Saturday night.
On Friday afternoon, the weather service released an updated model of where the storm may hit. It still was too soon to say if the storm would slam the coast and skim Puget Sound and Snohomish County, or if it would track farther inland and bring more powerful gusts to the Everett area. Either way, the wind was expected to pick up, peaking during a roughly five-hour window Saturday evening.
Because this is an early season storm, damage to trees is likely to be greater than other fall storms. Branches still are laden with leaves and trees that weakened over the summer have yet to be tested against damp soil and strong wind. The weather service urges people to “keep in mind that falling limbs and trees are an occasional cause of injury and fatality during Western Washington windstorms.”
A weaker storm caused power outages for a few thousand Snohomish County PUD customers Thursday night and Friday. Crews chased outages around the county, cleaning up damage in one area while more lines went down in another. Camano Island and the Tulalip Reservation were hit hard, with additional outages in Arlington, Marysville and Granite Falls. Clusters of outages started to appear in south Snohomish County, particularly around Martha Lake, later in the afternoon.
Reports of downed trees and power lines continued Friday evening. An outage map is available online at outagemap.snopud.com.
The district had about 40 PUD and contract crews ready to respond to outages Friday. If more are needed, the district can call on other districts, PUD spokesman Neil Neroutsos said
“If we get a larger storm over the weekend, we will likely ramp up considerably,” he said. “During some major storms we have had double that number of crews in the field.”
The PUD also has stockpiled electrical wires, power poles and other materials line crews need to restore power after a wind storm.
An earlier flood watch that had been issued for the Stillaguamish River ended Friday afternoon.
Events around the county have been canceled or postponed due to the weather. Officials cited safety concerns. Though rain is nothing new for fall activities in Snohomish County, high winds could create hazardous conditions.
The Out of the Darkness Walk in Everett, an event to raise money for suicide prevention and mental health research, has been postponed. Saturday was to be the first time the national fundraiser came to Snohomish County. The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention on Friday made the call to postpone it, event coordinator Rena Fitzgerald said. All registered walkers are expected to get an email and phone call. A new date has not yet been decided, but there still will be a walk, she said.
The Everett Farmers Market called off its final day of operations for the season. The market was set to be open Sunday, but managers decided to end the season early. It’s the first time in 23 years the last day of the market has been canceled due to stormy weather, according to the market newsletter.
“This time, winds forecast to be strong enough to topple or send canopies flying will prevent us from opening,” the letter said.
The final day of the Port Susan Farmers Market in Stanwood, scheduled for Friday, also was canceled.
In Arlington, workers had planned to break ground on an overhaul of the fields at Bill Quake Memorial Park, complete with a celebration of the long awaited project. That work was postponed, city spokeswoman Kristin Banfield said. A new date has not been set.
Ferry service may be delayed or, on some routes, suspended if the storm picks up as anticipated this weekend. Washington State Ferries warned of possible disrupted service in a Friday newsletter. Delays can be expected between Anacortes and the San Juan Islands. Sailing between Mukilteo and Clinton may be bumpy. The ferry from Port Townsend to Coupeville may not run if the wind gets too strong. Some afternoon sailings for Friday were canceled.
Service also may be slower and lines longer because, during stormy weather, ferries are loaded at less than full capacity to distribute the weight toward the back end of the boat. Ferries also may travel slower or take alternate routes to deal with choppy water.
Herald Writer Dan Catchpole contributed to this report.
Kari Bray: 425-339-3439; kbray@heraldnet.com.
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