Hold on to your hats! Western Washington winds are about to blow!

A tight, but strong, low center is about to pass north of the Puget Sound region, bringing strong wind gusts that could get as high as 50 mph in exposed locations.

The UW WRF forecast model shows the predicted low at 8 AM (see below), with a large pressure difference on its periphery (solid lines are isobars, lines of constant pressure)

 By 1 PM, the low is north of Puget Sound, with the area of large pressure gradient right over western WA.  That means wind.  

To illustrate, here is the sustained or average wind predicted for 1 PM.  Around Seattle there will be sustained winds of 25-30 knots (29-35 mph).  The gusts will be more.

The swirl of precipitation associated with the low is apparent on the latest (8:15 AM) radar image off the NW WA coast.

And the 8 AM satellite imagery clearly shows the swirl offshore.

So batten down the hatches and get ready...the wind is about to blow.  City Light and the other utilities should get read...some folks are about to lose their power.
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Announcement

The Northwest Weather Workshop, the big annual weather gathering in the Northwest, will take place on March 3-4, 2017 in Seattle (NOAA Sand Point Facility).   Everyone is welcome.  For more information and to register, go to http://ift.tt/1kGl4aC

from Cliff Mass Weather Blog http://ift.tt/2kQu7dq