Weather forecasters explain the mega-storm that wasn’t

EVERETT — What was widely advertised as a mega-storm descended on the region Saturday but passed largely with a mere flutter, though it was enough to turn off the lights in some areas.

About 10,000 Snohomish County Public Utility District customers lost power at the height of the storm, around 8 p.m. Most were in the Silver Lake area of south Everett, with other clusters in Bothell, Brier, Lake Stevens, Machias and Oso.

By the late Sunday morning, the utility reported only 56 customers without power, mostly in northern Snohomish County.

Forecasters were left explaining why their models proved so inaccurate.

“Yes, our forecast did not turn out as predicted,” meteorologists from the National Weather Service in Seattle said in an online post. “We are not pleased about it either.”

ADVERTISEMENT
0 seconds of 0 secondsVolume 0%
Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcuts
00:00
00:00
00:00
 

The weather system, with remnants of Typhoon Songda, ended up staying farther offshore than originally predicted, leaving higher pressure and tamer winds over Western Washington. Experts were examining their calculations, aiming for better results.

“We hope that you do not ignore future warnings or distrust our forecasts because of this event,” the forecasters’ statement continued. “Although weather models, the technology, and the science are constantly improving, there is still an aspect of unpredictability in weather forecasting. Sometimes, Mother Nature simply does not want to cooperate with the forecast.”

Conditions were more than a little breezy for much of Saturday night, though.

A 43 mph wind gust was recorded at Paine Field around 6:30 p.m. Saturday. Another was clocked at 41 mph at Arlington Airport about three hours later.

For Monday, forecasters were predicting fairly typical mid-October weather, with likely showers and a gentle to moderate breeze. Tuesday also was expected to bring showers, with slightly less breezy conditions.

Noah Haglund: 425-339-3465; nhaglund@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @NWhaglund.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

Vehicles travel along Mukilteo Speedway on Sunday, April 21, 2024, in Mukilteo, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Mukilteo cameras go live to curb speeding on Speedway

Starting Friday, an automated traffic camera system will cover four blocks of Mukilteo Speedway. A 30-day warning period is in place.

Carli Brockman lets her daughter Carli, 2, help push her ballot into the ballot drop box on the Snohomish County Campus on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Here’s who filed for the primary election in Snohomish County

Positions with three or more candidates will go to voters Aug. 5 to determine final contenders for the Nov. 4 general election.

Students from Explorer Middle School gather Wednesday around a makeshift memorial for Emiliano “Emi” Munoz, who died Monday, May 5, after an electric bicycle accident in south Everett. (Aspen Anderson / The Herald)
Community and classmates mourn death of 13-year-old in bicycle accident

Emiliano “Emi” Munoz died from his injuries three days after colliding with a braided cable.

Danny Burgess, left, and Sandy Weakland, right, carefully pull out benthic organisms from sediment samples on Thursday, May 1, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
‘Got Mud?’ Researchers monitor the health of the Puget Sound

For the next few weeks, the state’s marine monitoring team will collect sediment and organism samples across Puget Sound

Everett postal workers gather for a portrait to advertise the Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive on Wednesday, May 7, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Snohomish County letter carriers prepare for food drive this Saturday

The largest single-day food drive in the country comes at an uncertain time for federal food bank funding.

Everett
Everett considers ordinance to require more apprentice labor

It would require apprentices to work 15% of the total labor hours for construction or renovation on most city projects over $1 million.

Women hold a banner with pictures of victims of one of the Boeing Max 8 crashes at a hearing where Captain Chesley B. “Sully” Sullenberger III testified at the Rayburn House Building on June 19, 2019, in Washington, D.C. (Katherine Frey/The Washington Post)
DOJ plans to drop Boeing prosecution in 737 crashes

Families of the crash victims were stunned by the news, lawyers say.

First responders extinguish a fire on a Community Transit bus on Friday, May 16, 2025 in Snohomish, Washington (Snohomish County Fire District 4)
Community Transit bus catches fire in Snohomish

Firefighters extinguished the flames that engulfed the front of the diesel bus. Nobody was injured.

Signs hang on the outside of the Early Learning Center on the Everett Community College campus on Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2021 in Everett, Wa. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Everett Community College to close Early Learning Center

The center provides early education to more than 70 children. The college had previously planned to close the school in 2021.

Northshore school board selects next superintendent

Justin Irish currently serves as superintendent of Anacortes School District. He’ll begin at Northshore on July 1.

Auston James / Village Theatre
“Jersey Boys” plays at Village Theatre in Everett through May 25.
A&E Calendar for May 15

Send calendar submissions for print and online to features@heraldnet.com. To ensure your… Continue reading

Contributed photo from Snohomish County Public Works
Snohomish County Public Works contractor crews have begun their summer 2016 paving work on 13 miles of roadway, primarily in the Monroe and Stanwood areas. This photo is an example of paving work from a previous summer. A new layer of asphalt is put down over the old.
Snohomish County plans to resurface about 76 miles of roads this summer

EVERETT – As part of its annual road maintenance and preservation program,… Continue reading

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.