The final installment of the Olympic Natural Resources Center (ONRC) spring speaker series wrapped last week with an engaging and storm-charged presentation by meteorologist Dr. Cliff Mass of the University of Washington. His talk, titled “The Great Storms of the Northwest Coast,” explored the extraordinary weather systems that have battered the Pacific Northwest coast over centuries, blending meteorological science with historical accounts.
The Pacific Northwest is home to some of the planet’s most powerful storms, driven by intense low-pressure systems that generate winds exceeding 100 miles per hour. Although the region doesn’t experience hurricanes, its mid-latitude cyclones can be just as devastating.
Illustrating the long history of extreme wind events, Mass shared that local Indigenous tribes once attributed these powerful forces to the Thunderbird flapping its wings, a legend that echoes the true might of nature. Historical accounts, such as those from explorer John Meares in 1778, noted extensive forest damage that pointed to intense past storms.
Mass recounted several notable windstorms, beginning with the Great Gale of January 1880, which saw gusts up to 140 mph. But it was the storm of January 29, 1921, dubbed the “Big Blow,” that first drew widespread public attention, bringing winds up to 150 mph and leveling nearly 40% of the standing timber.
However, the storm that stands out most to Dr. Mass is the Columbus Day Storm of 1962. Thirty-six people died and 53,000 homes were damaged. With an estimated 15 billion board feet of timber blown down, Mass believes it remains the most powerful to ever strike the Northwest. “If it happened today, it would be a real disaster,” he noted, adding that forecasters didn’t even detect the storm until 5 a.m. the day it struck.
Forecasting has come a long way since then. The Inaugural Day Storm of January 20, 1993, marked a turning point; it was one of the first storms accurately predicted by meteorologists. Still, despite the accurate forecast, the public largely ignored warnings. That storm became the third most damaging in the region’s history and resulted in six deaths. More recently, the storm of December 15, 2006, packed coastal winds of over 100 mph and demonstrated the continuing threat.
Trees, Mass emphasized, are a “big deal” in the Northwest. Unlike regions back East, where towering trees are less common, the Pacific Northwest’s dense, mature forests turn high winds into widespread destruction.
The storm season typically runs from November to February, and thanks to satellite data and advanced computer modeling, forecasting today allows for several days’ warning. “Since 1990, we’ve seen incredible progress,” Mass said.
Interestingly, while public concern grows over climate change, Dr. Mass noted that there’s no clear trend in the frequency or severity of Northwest storms. In fact, some evidence suggests they may decrease. He explained the increasingly popular term “bomb cyclone,” referring to a storm where atmospheric pressure drops rapidly, by at least 24 millibars in 24 hours, resulting in explosive weather.
Dr. Cliff Mass, a physicist by training, earned his undergraduate degree at Cornell University, working with legendary scientists Carl Sagan and Stephen Schneider before earning his Ph.D. at the University of Washington. He has since become a key advocate for weather radar and forecasting infrastructure and is the author of the book “The Weather of the Pacific Northwest,” now in its second edition. He also maintains a popular blog at cliffmass.blogspot.com and is currently writing a new book titled “The Science of Weather Prediction.”
