Christmas by candlelight, anyone?
Strong wind gusts blowing in on Christmas Eve could mean power outages by dinnertime, so channel your Ebenezer Scrooge, slap on a nightcap and cozy nightgown and be ready to navigate the dark with a candleholder in hand.
The National Weather Service has issued a high wind warning for much of the Puget Sound region effective 10 a.m. Wednesday to 7 p.m., with 25 to 35 mph winds and gusts from 50 to 60 mph expected.
A weather system tracking up the coast from Northern California will hit Western Washington from the Oregon border all the way up to Bellingham. The day will begin with easterly winds that start to increase throughout the morning, meteorologist Logan Howard said Tuesday night.
“The main impact will be a really fast shift to southerly winds,” Howard said, which is expected around noon to 3 p.m., then linger until about 5 p.m.
Given the moistness of the soil after back-to-back atmospheric rivers, downed trees and power lines are likely.
Throughout the week, meteorologists have noted it has been a tricky forecast, with some degree of uncertainty," until pinning down a prediction late Tuesday that puts the Puget Sound region at the center of the windstorm. The updated forecast also narrowed down the expected timing.
The weather service warned residents to avoid being outside in forested areas, or around trees and branches, and remain in the lower levels of a home during the windstorm, avoiding windows, if possible. High wind watches and warnings have been issued for nearly the entire West Coast because of the storm off California.
Puget Sound Energy urged customers to prepare for potential power outages, noting the forecast storm follows weeks of heavy rainfall and floods.
"We know how important the holidays are for spending time with loved ones, and how disruptive it is to be without power," the utility said in a news release. We are proactively staffing first responders and crews to prepare and are encouraging our customers to prepare their homes and emergency kits now.
The windstorm is reminiscent of the snowstorm that nearly canceled Christmas in the 1964 Rankin/Bass “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” with Christmas trees swaying, wayward ornaments clinking together and elves blowing in the wind as they try to weigh down presents.
But unlike the famous Christmas Eve storm, we won’t need the titular bioluminescent snow steed because, well, there won’t be any snow.
The wind will have passed by Christmas morning and the only precipitation we’ll see will be showers in the afternoon, meteorologist Jacob DeFlitch said. Snow is expected at 2,000 to 3,500 feet. Good news for skiers. Bad news for Seattle photo ops.
“No White Christmas this year,” DeFlitch said.
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