**SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT: Severe Weather Possible This Afternoon

It’s been a crazy morning so far with strong winds and heavy rain adding up to .72” this morning, making the month to date rainfall total 2.38”! And this afternoon some major instability in the atmosphere will occur, making the conditions ripe for thunderstorms, lightning and possible funnel clouds. Here’s the statement put out by the National Weather Service:

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA
959 AM PDT SAT OCT 17 2009

WAZ001-503>517-180400-
SAN JUAN COUNTY-WESTERN WHATCOM COUNTY-SOUTHWEST INTERIOR-
EAST PUGET SOUND LOWLANDS-WESTERN SKAGIT COUNTY-EVERETT AND VICINITY-
SEATTLE/BREMERTON AREA-TACOMA AREA-ADMIRALTY INLET AREA-
HOOD CANAL AREA-LOWER CHEHALIS VALLEY AREA-OLYMPICS-
EASTERN STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA-WESTERN STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA-
NORTH COAST-CENTRAL COAST-
959 AM PDT SAT OCT 17 2009

…STRONG THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON…

A RATHER STRONG EARLY FALL COLD FRONT WILL SWEEP NORTHEAST ACROSS
WESTERN WASHINGTON LATE THIS MORNING AND EARLY THIS AFTERNOON. THE
FRONT WILL BE ACCOMPANIED BY A LINE OF HEAVY SHOWERS AND POSSIBLY
A FEW THUNDERSTORMS.

BEHIND THE FRONT…THE AIR MASS WILL BECOME UNSTABLE AS COOLER AIR
MOVES IN ALOFT MAKING THE REGION RIPE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF
THUNDERSTORMS. THIS INSTABILITY WILL BE COMBINED WITH STRONG WIND
SHEAR IN THE MID LEVELS OF THE ATMOSPHERE. THAT COMBINATION BRINGS
ABOUT THE POTENTIAL FOR ROTATION TO DEVELOP IN ANY STRONG
THUNDERSTORMS THAT DO DEVELOP DURING THE AFTERNOON HOURS.

ALTHOUGH TORNADOES ARE RARE IN WESTERN WASHINGTON…WHEN WE DO GET
THEM IT IS NORMALLY UNDER SITUATIONS SIMILAR TO THIS WHEN THEY
HAPPEN…BUT EVERYTHING HAS TO COME TOGETHER JUST RIGHT.

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILL BE MONITORING THE SITUATION
CLOSELY THROUGH THE EVENING HOURS AND WILL ISSUE STATEMENTS AND
WARNINGS AS NEEDED. WE ARE ACTIVATING THE SKYWARN SPOTTER NETWORK
AT THIS TIME FOR THE POTENTIAL AFTERNOON CONVECTION AND ARE
ASKING FOR CALLS RELATED TO UNUSUAL CONVECTIVE ACTIVITY.

Stay tuned to this blog post for updates and report any strange weather happening at your place here!

~Matt