Infrared satellite image provided by the US Naval Research Labortory

Pacific Northwest windstorms, sometimes colloquially known as Big Blows, are

extratropical cyclone Extratropical cyclones, sometimes called mid-latitude cyclones or wave cyclones, are low-pressure areas which, along with the anticyclones of high-pressure areas, drive the weather over much of the Earth. Extratropical cyclones are capable of p ...

s which form in the

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...

basin, and affect land areas in the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (PNW; ) is a geographic region in Western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though no official boundary exists, the most common ...

of the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. They form as cyclonic windstorms associated with areas of low atmospheric pressure that track across the North Pacific Ocean towards western North America. Deep low pressure areas are relatively common over the North Pacific. They are most common in the winter months. On average, the month when most windstorms form is November or December. The closest analogue to these storms are

European windstorm European windstorms are powerful extratropical cyclones which form as cyclone, cyclonic windstorms associated with areas of low atmospheric pressure. They can occur throughout the year, but are most frequent between October and March, with peak ...

s, which develop over the eastern portion of the North

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

as opposed to the North Pacific.

Nor'easter A nor'easter (also northeaster; see below) is a large-scale extratropical cyclone in the western North Atlantic Ocean. The name derives from the direction of the winds that blow from the northeast. Typically, such storms originate as a low ...

s, a similar class of extratropical cyclones, commonly affect the east coast of North America. While the storms on the East Coast are named "nor'easters", the Pacific Northwest windstorms are not called "nor'westers" because the cyclones' primary winds can blow from any direction, while the primary winds in nor'easters usually blow from the northeast. The largest storm events have struck the Pacific Northwest every 15 to 30 years according to modern records. Among the strongest were the 1962 Columbus Day storm, which formed from the remnants of Typhoon Frieda/Freda and killed 50 people; the 1993

Inauguration Day Between seventy-three and seventy-nine days after the presidential election, the president-elect of the United States is inaugurated as president by taking the presidential oath of office. The inauguration takes place for each new president ...

windstorm, which killed 6 people; and the 2006 Hanukkah Eve windstorm, which killed 14 people and caused widespread power outages for 11 days.

Categories and frequency

Notable Pacific Northwest windstorms

* 1880:

Great Gale of 1880 The Great Gale of 1880 was an intense extratropical cyclone (possibly deeper than ) that impacted the Northwest United States on January 9, 1880. The greatest snowstorm, and perhaps overall worst storm in SW Washington and NW Oregon history, was ...

* 1921: January 29, the Great Olympic Blowdown. * 1962:

Columbus Day Storm The Columbus Day storm of 1962 (also known as the big blow of 1962, and originally in Canada as Typhoon Freda) was a Pacific Northwest windstorm that struck the West Coast of Canada and the Pacific Northwest coast of the United States on Octobe ...

began life as tropical storm Typhoon Frieda/Freda. * 1979: February 13 windstorm leads to the catastrophic failure of the

Hood Canal Bridge The Hood Canal Bridge (officially William A. Bugge Bridge) is a floating bridge in the northwest United States, located in western Washington. It carries State Route 104 across Hood Canal in Puget Sound and connects the Olympic and Kitsap ...

. * 1981: Friday the 13th Windstorms, November 13–15 * 1990: November 22–24,

Mercer Island Mercer Island is a city in King County, Washington, United States, located on an island of the same name in the southern portion of Lake Washington. Mercer Island is in the Seattle metropolitan area, with Seattle to its west and Bellevue t ...

bridge sinking Washington state * 1993: Inauguration Day windstorm, January 20. Claimed six lives, 750,000 homes and businesses without power with total damage in western Washington of $130 million. Also caused $500,000 in damage to the Evergreen Point Floating Bridge. * 1995: December 11–12 * 1999: March 2–3, 1999 * 2000: January 16, 2000 * 2002: South Valley Surprise of 2002 * 2006: The Hannukah Eve windstorm caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damage, left over 1.8 million residences and businesses without power, and killed eighteen. Most deaths were caused by carbon monoxide poisoning in the days following the storm because of improper use of barbecue cookers and generators indoors. * 2007:

Great Coastal Gale of 2007 The Great Coastal Storm of 2007 was a series of three powerful Pacific storms that affected the U.S. states of Oregon and Washington and the Canadian province of British Columbia between December 1 and December 4, 2007. The storms on December 2 ...

* 2012: November 19 * 2013: Remnants of Typhoon Pabuk on September 28–29, 2013 caused heavy rain in Portland, Oregon had the wettest September ever on record. The moisture from the Pineapple Express coming from Hawaii. * 2014: December 11: Brought the strongest recorded wind gust to Portland since 1995, of 59 MPH * 2015: August 29–30 windstorm knocking out power to 710,000 customers in British Columbia's

Lower Mainland The Lower Mainland is a geographic and cultural region of the mainland coast of British Columbia that generally comprises the regional districts of Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley. Home to approximately 3.05million people as of the 2021 ...

region. Several municipalities in

Metro Vancouver The Metro Vancouver Regional District (MVRD), or simply Metro Vancouver, is a Canadian political subdivision and Corporation, corporate entity representing the metropolitan area of Greater Vancouver, designated by provincial legislation as o ...

were without power for three days; at the time it was the largest outage in

BC Hydro The British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority, trade name, operating as BC Hydro, is a Canadian electric utility in the province of British Columbia. It is the main electricity distributor, serving more than 4 million customers in most areas, wi ...

's recorded history. * 2015, December 21 * 2016: March 9 * 2016: Ides of October storm, Typhoon Songda transitioned into an extratropical storm as it crossed the North Pacific and approached the west coast of North America. Originally, expected to be a historic windstorm to make a direct hit on Washington State, the worst of the storm ended up staying offshore. Despite this, coastal regions reported winds as high as 100 mph and an EF-2 tornado touched down in Manzanita. * 2018: December 20, as winds approached (and occasionally exceeded) 100 km/h, trees came down, high seas cancelled ferries and over 750,000 customers in British Columbia lost power; causing the largest outage in BC Hydro's recorded history. One man needed to be rescued by helicopter from the damaged White Rock Pier and a woman was killed in Duncan after being struck by a tree. * 2021:

October 2021 Northeast Pacific bomb cyclone Natural disasters in Washington (state) An extremely powerful extratropical cyclone began in late October 2021 in the Northeast Pacific and struck the Western United States and Western Canada. The storm was the third and the most powerful cyclo ...

. Powerful storm system that underwent rapid bombogenesis with air pressure bottoming out at 942

hPa The pascal (symbol: Pa) is the unit of pressure in the International System of Units (SI). It is also used to quantify internal pressure, stress, Young's modulus, and ultimate tensile strength. The unit, named after Blaise Pascal, is an S ...

. Heavy rain and snow along with strong winds were reported. * 2024:

November 2024 Northeast Pacific bomb cyclone A powerful extratropical cyclone developed November 18, 2024, in the Northeast Pacific and struck the Western United States and Western Canada. The storm underwent bombogenesis, rapidly dropping its central pressure to a record-t ...

. Powerful storm system that tied the October 2021 bomb cyclone for the lowest pressure recorded in the Pacific Northwest

References

External links

Wolf Read: The Storm King- Some Historical Weather Events in the Pacific NorthwestKCTS9 Science Cafe: Great Windstorms of the Pacific Northwest with Dr. Cliff Mass
{{Cyclones Extratropical cyclones Natural disasters in Oregon Natural disasters in Washington (state) Weather events in the United States Weather events in Canada

Categories and frequency

Notable Pacific Northwest windstorms

See also

References

External links