By Gordon McCraw, Meteorologist for the Tillamook County Pioneer
Tuesday, November 19, 2024, 10:30am
Satellite image – Kinda impressive…the low is expected to move a little closer to the coast then turn north, heading to Vancouver Island
A quick update on the incoming impactful weather. So, we are looking at a pretty strong system moving in today and impacting the area through early tomorrow, that will bring real strong gusty winds along the beaches and headlands with some strong winds likely inland as well. The beaches could see winds gusting to 50-65, with about a 30% chance of some areas seeing gusts to 70-95. In town, you can expect winds gusts 35-45, possibly gusting as high as 50-55 at times. The wind should increase around noon to 1:00pm today and linger through around 4:00am tomorrow morning. There is a chance that the winds don’t pick up until 3:00-5:00 this evening but the best chance is around 1:00pm. Obviously, this could impact the county with fallen trees blocking roads and/or into powerlines causing power outages. There is a High Winds Warning for Tillamook from 1pm today through 4am tomorrow. Next, let’s review the ocean, where there are Storm Warnings from 10:00am this morning through 1:00pm today, then a Hurricane Force Wind Warning starting at 1pm today through 10pm tonight. As you might expect, this will cause dangerously high surf conditions and thus a High Surf Advisory starts at 7pm this evening, valid though 4pm tomorrow. If you must go to the beach, know that these waves can lift large logs that can cause serious bodily harm, and the waves can also knock you down and drag you out into the ocean. So, use extreme caution and remain clear of the surf.
Last night, the Coast Range saw quite a bit of snow, all the way down to Lees Camp, that gave drivers white-out conditions at times. This morning ODOT was reporting that there was 4” of new snow roadside with bare pavement. With this being a warmer system, the snow level should be rising and bringing improving driving conditions across the summit. Now, let’s look at the rain, yes, we can expect periods of moderate to heavy rain, but it continues to show the heaviest rain will be into southern Oregon and northern California, so while we could see some Urban and Small Stream flooding, river flooding concerns remain low. It appears today we can expect ¾” to 1 ½” of rain with another ¼ to ¾” tomorrow. The Coast Range is likely to see 2 ½” to 3” through tomorrow. So, to summarize, it looks like this will be a high wind event, the strongest we have seen this season, that could cause road and power issues. The seas will be increasing with waves possibly up to 20-25’ tonight, causing dangerous surf conditions along the beaches. Again, it appears we have no river flooding concerns, just some localized flooding related to drainage.
