Rare severe threat in the Pacific Northwest as storms move ashore

AccuWeather

A powerful storm is pressing into the Pacific Northwest from the Pacific, leading to a moderate risk of severe thunderstorms and even a chance of isolated tornadoes in places like Seattle and Portland.

Transcript

00:00In the northwest, there's a new developing zone of severe weather potential.

00:05And as we loop this here, you're going to see that we are facing some pretty good wind energy here.

00:10And there are little spokes of this here that are sliding northeast.

00:15And this is probably going to be developing into a band of more aggressive thunderstorms as things evolve.

00:22And overall, looking at the satellite loop, you can see this is a pretty powerful storm.

00:25Look at this giant pinwheel of low pressure off the coast.

00:29And it is a very dynamic storm system, strong low pressure.

00:33And this is going to come, again, a couple of lobes of energy are going to be lifting through the region.

00:38And the first and second to make their way through western Oregon and Washington

00:43will be bringing the risk of damaging wind, hail, and some flooding out there.

00:48But even the risk of an isolated tornado.

00:50So as we take a look at the big picture, with satellite and radar,

00:53there's been a little bit of lightning offshore so far.

00:56But this is going to be stepping up.

00:58And we're expecting to see eventually a severe thunderstorm

01:01or perhaps a tornado watch issued into the I-5 corridor.

01:05Temperatures range from around 57 in Seattle to a really warm 77 now in Portland and in Boise, Idaho.

01:12Very warm for early spring in these areas.

01:15Here's our risk area.

01:16Pretty rare that we have a moderate risk.

01:18Two out of four on the AccuWeather Threat Level Index for Seattle, Portland, Olympia,

01:22and in between here from this whole zone here up and down I-5

01:26in northwestern Oregon and western Washington state.

01:29Damaging wind and hail are the most likely risks here this evening

01:32and late this afternoon, too, and into the night.

01:35So we'll be watching as this kind of unfurls, sending these rounds of rain and thunderstorms.

01:40Tomorrow we turn colder, so the risk of severe weather drops off a bit.

01:44But there will be some snow that builds in.

01:45You can see a lot more blue at the end of the week here in the mountains.

01:49We're going to see a few inches of snow into some of the Oregon Cascades

01:52and perhaps some of the Washington Cascades as well Thursday and into Friday.

01:56So Thursday, a little more snow to the north in the high ground.

01:59Still snow levels relatively high, but they'll be coming down.

02:02And in the interior, we're dealing with very warm weather.

02:05Hot one in McCook, Nebraska, 85 there, Grand Junction, 81,

02:09and record-breaking warmth into Colorado Springs as well.

02:13And Friday, this is when we turn a little colder in the northwest.

02:16Alki, Washington, in the Seattle Metro, widespread rain Thursday,

02:20gradually turning brighter and drier,

02:22and the dew points drop, getting cooler at night into Saturday.

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