Northwest Winds Top Out at 137 MPH!

We have a news story online entitled "Winds Wail on the Northwest Coast." You can say that again. A weather station at 10,000 feet elevation on Mount Ranier, Washington measured a wind gust of 137 mph Monday night.

The sustained 1-minute wind reading of 112 mph is the same as what you'd get in a Category 3 hurricane on the Saffir Simpson Wind Scale. But the real story is closer to the population - wind gusts over 70 mph have been reported in the last 24 hours by spotters and weather equipment near the shore (see map below).

In addition, the following weather stations (mostly on mountain tops) reported gusts even higher:

- Squaw Peak, OR: 94 mph - Humbug Mt.: 89 mph - Cape Foulweather, OR: 88 mph - Mt. Hebo, OR: 88 mph

The same storm has been responsible for mudslides in the Pacific Northwest.