USA TODAY International Edition
Storm batters Pacific Northwest
Remnants of Typhoon Songda knocks out power to thousands; wind, rain and outages could linger through Tuesday
A powerful storm system out of the Pacific is toppling trees and power lines with damaging winds — at more than 50 mph — as well as high surf and heavy rain from Northern California to western Washington.
The storm, which made landfall Saturday afternoon, left thousands without power in Oregon and Washington, packing the wallop predicted by the National Weather Service. Earlier Saturday, it issued a hurricane- force wind warning until early evening for coastal waters from Cascade Head, Ore., to Florence, Ore. Gusts of more than 50 mph battered Portland, and some meteorologists warned gusts could top 100 mph.
Some meteorologist are cautioning the system, a remnant of Typhoon Songda out of the western Pacific, could be one of the 10 worst windstorms to lash the area. Conditions are expected to linger through Tuesday.
No injuries have been reported.
“This would bring damaging wind gusts to the higher population centers of the I- 5 corridor in the Pacific Northwest, including Seattle and Portland,” The Weather Channel reports.
Forecasters warned of the danger of broken and downed tree limbs getting entangled with power lines, creating power outages and hindering traffic.
Additional heavy rain was forecast near the coast and below snow level in the coastal ranges, Olympics and Cascades through the weekend, bringing another 8 to 12 inches in some areas, weather. com reports. The system was also likely to bring high elevation snow to the Sierra Nevada, the Cascades and the northern Rockies, with heavy snow possible in central Idaho.
The National Weather Service says exposed areas of picturesque Highway 101, which hugs the coast from Northern California to Seattle, were vulnerable.
“Travel along Highway 101 may become difficult or even impossi- ble at times, especially for highprofile vehicles,” the weather service warns.
The weather service issued a high- surf warning Saturday for the northern and central Oregon coasts.
The weather service also warned of potential “sneaker waves” that could run farther up the beach than regular waves and “easily knock people and pets off their feet and drag them out to sea.”
The weekend forecast came one day after two tornadoes were reported in theTillamook County, Ore., including one that hit the town of Manzanita, just north of Cape Meares.
Before Friday, there had been only four tornadoes on record since 1950 in Tillamook County, said weather. com senior meteorologist Jonathan Erdman. The last occurred on Sep. 18, 1997.