100+ MPH Winds Are Big Story

UPDATE 1/9/07: Minor updates to the list below have been added.

The winds have been high in many areas of the United States this weekend, and this will continue through tonight.

In Colorado Saturday, the bus pictured below wrecked after high winds tipped it over, according to CNN on-air.

A bus lies on its side after sliding off Pena Boulevard in the east Denver suburb of Aurora, Colo., on Saturday, Jan. 6, 2007. Six passengers were transported by ambulance from the accident, according to Chris Henderson, battalion chief with the Aurora Fire Department. Between 15 and 20 people were on the bus on the time of the incident. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

The HeraldNet paper says that over 100,000 lost power in Washington State Friday night.

And in Vancouver, Canada, the B.C. Place Stadium Dome was damaged by high winds and heavy rains (The WeatherGuys scooped me on that one).

Here is a list of gusts over 80 mph in the West during the past three days:

Mission Ridge, WA: 137 mph**^
White Pass, WA: 123 mph*
Near Yreka, CA: 120 mph*
Mammoth Mountain, CA: 118 mph
Deep Creek, MT: 109 mph*
Alta, UT: 108 mph
Soldier Mountain, ID: 107 mph
Mount Ranier, WA: 104 mph
Stevens Pass, WA: 102 mph
Bordeaux, WY: 101 mph
Snowbird, UT: 100 mph
Laguna Peak, CA: 98 mph
Whitaker Peak, CA: 100 mph*^
Medicine Bridge, MT: 95 mph*
Nye, MT: 93 mph
Rattlesnake Mountain, WA: 92 mph*
Five Mile, CA: 91 mph
Logan Pass, MT: 91 mph*
Odgen Peak, UT: 89 mph
Niwot Ridge, CO: 89 mph
Rocky Flats, CO: 89 mph
Mt. Warren, CA: 88 mph
Chief Joseph, WY: 88 mph
Gable Mountain, WA: 85 mph*
Warm Springs, CA: 85 mph
Arlington, WY: 84 mph
Freemonth Canyon, CA: 84 mph^
White Mountain, CA: 83 mph
Genesee, CO: 83 mph
Laurel, CA: 82 mph

Unlinked stations are from NWS reports.Linked stations are from MESOWEST (The Government Mesonet) and only asterisked (*) stations were verified in NWS reports.

**Station had sparse data, observation could be inaccurate.

^Added on 1/9/07 based on new data

Residents of the Plains and northern Rockies should be on the lookout for high winds today and tonight. High profile vehicles like the bus shown above will again be in danger.

Meanwhile in Southern California, gusts will still hit 60 mph (or higher on mountains) today and tonight, but as high pressure weakens, the winds will decrease on Tuesday.