Oregon Coast Highest Wind Gusts, Power Outages, Road Closures

Published 10/14/2016 at 5:51 AM PDT - Published 10/14/2016 at 6:01 AM PDT
By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff

(Oregon Coast) – Overall it wound up not the most eventful storm the Oregon coast has experienced. Harsher than many, yet par for the course for the heavier categories the area sometimes goes through. It was definitely annoying to many residents.. (Above: a still from a video from Lincoln City's Rock Your World Gallery).

Thursday's tempest created plenty of issues, and some still linger. Power outages on and off, large amounts of debris, some road closures and certainly some mighty winds. But it's just a taster of what is set to hit on Saturday, with Friday being the calm before the storm that seems likely to bring flooding and gusts up to 90 mph.

The bulk of the storm ran amok from about 3 p.m. until 11 p.m. Towns like Lincoln City, Florence, and most of Tillamook and Clatsop counties reported power outages on and off.

As of 5 a.m., Pacific Power reports almost 3,000 customers are without power in Cannon Beach, Gearhart, Hammond, Seaside and Warrenton. Earlier in the day there had been 15,000 customers in the dark.

Most areas saw sustained winds in the 20's through 30's, while the beaches and headlands were hit harder. The highest wind gust numbers for the night were Cape Meares at a whopping 103 mph at 7 p.m., Mt. Hebo at 78 mph, Pacific City's beach saw 69 mph, Astoria experienced 61 mph and Lincoln City's highest was at 55 mph. Places like Newport, Oceanside and Yachats experienced highest gusts in the 50's.

Many residents reported being on edge on Oregon Coast Beach Connection's Facebook page, not finding it as pleasant as most.

As of 5 a.m., ODOT is reporting two road incidents: one closure and one area with delays. High water has shut down Highway 6 just outside of Tillamook. On Highway 101, 12 miles south of Yachats, ODOT said there are 20-minute delays because of a landslide. Watch for flaggers and emergency personnel.

Highway 26 was no picnic, according to Seaside resident Angi Wildt. She was returning home from Portland last night and encountered plenty of road issues.

“Within ten miles of the coast on the way back tonight it was almost zero visibility in patches and swirling gusts that I don't remember every seeing on the drives before,” Wildt said. “It looked like I was driving into a whirlwind or small tornado, but my truck didn't seem to be effected by it. It looked intimidating though.”

The U.S. Coast Guard closed the bar at Yaquina Bay in Newport until further notice. Buoys all along the coastline were reporting wave height in the 20's, and for a time some authorities thought the combination of high tides and storm surges would actually see waves crawl over the wall of Seaside's Promenade. That did not happen. See Oregon Coast Weather

There are now predictions of wave height of more than 30 feet with Saturday's storm, along with hurricane-force winds. By Sunday, things will be calming down with winds still in the 30's but seas going down to 14 feet. More on these wind and surf warnings Friday at Oregon Coast Beach Connection. Oregon Coast Hotels for this - Where to eat - Maps - Virtual Tours

Photo above courtesy Tiffany Boothe, Seaside Aquarium. Below: various storm photos from previous years

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