Windstorm could top Seattle's worst storms list
It's a gloomy prediction by Seattle weather forecasters: the storm coming this weekend could be one of the worst in Seattle's history.
Most wind storms make landfall close to Vancouver Island, hitting the coast the hardest. National Weather Service computer models predict this time the strongest winds could come inland.
Seattle meteorologist Allen Kam calls that the worst case scenario.
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Kam: "We call it a Puget Sound windstorm because the strongest winds wind up over the Puget Sound region. And the worry is it's early in the season, trees are still weaker, so there's a greater potential for tree damage, which means more power outages usually."
Kam predicts this Saturday's storm will resemble major Seattle storms of the past. Those include the Hanukkah Eve storm of 2006 and the Inauguration Day storm of 1993 - both which led to multiple deaths.
Many deaths in the Hanukkah Eve storm were related to people using barbeque cookers and generators indoors when the power was out.
Kam said the storm pattern could still change by Saturday, making landfall away from the Puget Sound region.
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Paige Browning
Newscaster
Paige hosts midday newscasts and monitors news of significance to the Puget Sound region. She hopped over Washington’s mountains to join KUOW, after hosting news and reporting at Spokane Public Radio since 2011. She began her start in radio while a journalism student at University of Montana, by sharing stories with KUFM. Paige was raised in the mountains and rivers around Spokane. In her spare time she cheers on the Mariners in the summer, and hopes for snow in the winter.
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