December 2006 Pacific Northwest Winter Storm

First Posting | Summary
Posting Date: December 19, 2006, 6:00:00 AM

A winter storm described as the worst since the 1993 Inauguration Day storm struck the Pacific Northwest late last week, causing roof, cladding and window damage. More significant structural damage occurred as a result of downed trees and utility poles. On Saturday, Washington Governor Christine Gregoire declared a state of emergency for all 39 counties. As many as 1.5 million households and businesses were without power at the height of the storm, and more than a quarter of a million remained without power as late as Sunday, including several thousand in northern Idaho and Montana. At least 100 people have been diagnosed with carbon monoxide poisoning as generators and charcoal grills have been brought indoors in an attempt to stave off plunging temperatures. Ten fatalities have now been linked to the storm, two from carbon monoxide poisoning. Wind gusts of more than 90 mph were widely, though unofficially, reported across Oregon and Washington, with a gust of 80 mph reported in Salem, Oregon. The Seattle-Tacoma Airport (Sea-Tac) registered a record gust of 60 knots (about 67 mph). Heavy precipitation caused localized flash flooding in western Washington and blizzard conditions in the eastern part of the state; more than a foot of snow fell at higher elevations in the Cascades coupled with gale force winds. The storm caused cancelled flights at the Portland International Airport and Sea-Tac, as well as a brief halt to train service between Portland and Seattle. Public schools were closed in Seattle on Friday. Many highways were closed due to downed trees and debris, and the Hood Canal Bridge was closed overnight as a precaution against high winds. The AIR extratropical cyclone modeling team has run AIR's NWP-based US winter storm model using available meteorological information pertaining to this event. Observational data, as well as model results indicate that this storm was somewhat stronger and more widespread than the 1993 storm, but not as severe as the 1962 Columbus Day storm. Five scenarios that represent a range of possible losses are now posted on the Scenarios page of this website. In addition, clients can download an event set representing these scenarios for use in AIR software.

First Posting | Downloads
Posting Date: December 19, 2006, 6:00:00 AM