West Seattle weather: New wind alert in effect until midnight

Thanks to Tanya in North Delridge for the photo of a storm-related close call – a tree limb as big as an entire tree, at least 50 feet long, came off a neighbor’s tree in the Saturday wind and rain, landing in her yard and theirs. She says it “landed perfectly to miss our house and our beloved maple trees.” They’re putting together a neighborhood work party in hopes of clearing it away this afternoon. This might not be the last weather-related tree trouble in the area, since the National Weather Service has a new Wind Advisory in effect (see it here) until midnight tonight, warning of strong winds out of the south, with gusts up to 55 mph.

ADDED LATE SUNDAY NIGHT: The wind advisory expired at midnight as scheduled. And we have an update from Tanya:

Wow. With the help of 6 neighbors, we had the whole cedar limb cleared in 1.5 hours. We filled 7 yard waste bins, gave a neighbor a ton of firewood, and had fun doing it. It was an amazing effort! Without our neighbors, we faced a daunting task. But with their help, we remained light-hearted about the whole incident, and were left feeling deeply supported.

Maggie February 16, 2014 (3:06 pm)

Rain is moving into the central Sound now, heavy rains will be here soon. Surge of wind expected around 9-10pm as the front moves through. Batten down the hatches!
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“@ScottSKOMO: Looks like the front will pass around 9-10p and that’s when Seattle will get our surge of southerly wind.”

Lura Ercolano February 16, 2014 (4:36 pm)

NOAA’s hourly forecast page for 98136 is currently predicting gusts ~ 45 mph 5:00pm to 9pm, with a chance of thunder from 5:00pm to 3:00 am, and an astounding 1.5 inches of rain between now and 4:00 am. That page is pretty reliable for short term timing.

http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lat=47.53781&lon=-122.39115240000001&unit=0&lg=english&FcstType=graphical

WSB February 16, 2014 (4:46 pm)

Thanks. It’s coming and going out there – we have just been out on errands and can tell you that, for example, large open parking lots are a good place to get buffeted. The high bridge, too … and we’ll be crossing that on another errand in about an hour …

ttt February 16, 2014 (5:32 pm)

Looks like it wasn’t just the wind that made that tree fall– it is rotted where it broke.

Trileigh February 16, 2014 (5:55 pm)

Lura, that is a GREAT site! I use the NOAA/National Weather Service “forecast discussion” and general forecast pages all the time, but did not know about this one. I’ve bookmarked it and will be checking it regularly from now on.
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Big winds near Lincoln Park, soggy ground. Some big branches down in yesterday’s storm…will see what happens this time.

JO February 17, 2014 (9:57 am)

Thanks to the great neighbors who jumped in to help with this giant tree! Many hands really do make like work AND lighter hearts!

Also, thanks for the weather link, Lura! When the weather is changing so quickly it’s great to have options for keeping track and making good decisions about travel.

AND as always, Thanks WSB for always staying on top of the weather advisories and warnings and helping to keep us warm, dry, and safe!

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