Tuesday Afternoon High Wind Watch Might Whip Up 60MPH Gusts

The National Weather Service out of Pendleton, OR has issued a High Wind Watch for the Tri-Cities beginning Tuesday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. lasting until late Tuesday night around 11:00 p.m.

You can expect all flags to be whipping and flapping real good as sustained winds are forecast to be in the 35-45 miles per hour range with some wind gusts as high as 60mph not out of the question. What are the odds you will see an errant trampoline meandering end-over-end down a street before coming to rest in someone's yard halfway through a cul-de-sac? Confidence is high.

Damaging winds could blow down trees and power lines. Widespread power outages are possible. Travel could be difficult, especially for high profile vehicles.

It might be like it was early in 2020, remember the very first day of the year, when we should have foreseen this was not going to be the craziest it would get all year, but just the beginning, as the coronavirus was still a long cough away from bats in a Wuhan wet market? Not too long before the pandemic, Tumblegeddon made international news with tumbleweed waves socking in cars by the side of the highway on the Hanford Nuclear Reservation. Yes, those kinds of winds can be expected beginning tomorrow afternoon.

Experts say these conditions can be dangerous for particular vehicles with a high profile. Semi drivers should use extreme caution while traveling through the region. Unsecured objects could also become airborne.

The watch includes a significant area of eastern Oregon and Washington. Communities under the watch include The Dalles, Yakima, Pendleton, Hermiston, Pasco, Kennewick, Richland, Wenatchee, Connell, Ellensburg and Moses Lake.

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