Snow Way!

From the Portland National Weather Service:

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PORTLAND HAS ISSUED A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SNOW...WHICH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 4 PM PST THIS AFTERNOON.
* TIMING...THROUGH TODAY.

* ACCUMULATION/SNOW LEVELS...EXPECT 1 TO 3 INCHES ABOVE 1000 FEET.
EXPECT UP TO 1 INCH BETWEEN ABOUT 500 AND 1000 FEET. EXPECT
LOCAL ACCUMULATIONS OF ONE HALF TO 1 INCH BELOW 500 FEET WITH
THE MAIN LIKELIHOOD THIS MORNING.

* IMPACTS...ROADS WILL BECOME LOCALLY SNOW COVERED AND ICY...
ESPECIALLY AT HIGHER ELEVATIONS.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SNOW MEANS THAT PERIODS OF SNOW WILL CAUSE PRIMARILY TRAVEL DIFFICULTIES. BE PREPARED FOR SNOW COVERED ROADS AND LIMITED VISIBILITIES...AND USE CAUTION WHILE DRIVING.

More Quake Info

For more information on today's earthquake and the recent swarms of earthquakes near Mt. St. Helens, click here to see the article from The Daily News. Hopefully these are just little "reminder rumblings" to remind us to review our emergency plans and make sure our disaster supply kits are up-to-date (and that they actually exist in reality and not in the oh-man-i-gotta-do-that-someday corner of our minds.)

Thunderstorms ahead...

This isn't specifically for our county, but we may see some residual rain and wind from this storm.

The National Weather Service in Portland has issued a:

* Severe Thunderstorm Warning for... northwestern Clatsop County in northwest Oregon... northwestern Wahkiakum County in southwest Washington... southern Pacific County in southwest Washington...

* until 330 PM PST.

* At 314 PM PST... National Weather Service Doppler radar indicated a severe thunderstorm capable of producing damaging winds in excess of 60 mph. This storm was located 14 miles southwest of Warrenton... or 19 miles southwest of Astoria... and moving northeast at 60 mph.

* Other locations the severe thunderstorm will be near include...
Warrenton... Clatsop Spit... Astoria... Cape Disappointment and Ilwaco...

Precautionary/preparedness actions...

This is a dangerous storm. If you are in its path... prepare immediately for damaging winds... destructive hail... and deadly cloud to ground lightning. People outside should move to a shelter...preferably inside a strong building but away from windows.

Don't Be Out of the Loop!

Did you NOT know about this morning's earthquake? Were you the last to know Darth Vader was Luke's father? Were you the last one picked at dodgeball? Well, don't be left out in the dark anymore. If you were following us on Twitter you would have been notified within minutes! If you are a member of the Twitter Nation, you can find us by typing @CowlitzDEM. If you are not a member and have no desire to be, you can still look at any updates by clicking here or typing in www.twitter.com/CowlitzDEM. Better yet, you can get Twitter messages sent directly to your cell phone! Simply text Follow CowlitzDEM in the body of the text and send it to 40404. You will then receive any alerts that are sent out from our office via Twitter. It will be received on your phone as an incoming text. We are careful to only send out important emergency information, so we will not inundate your inbox with our daily goings-on or what we ate for lunch (which was, by the way, a Lean-Cuisine pizza. I'd say the "cuisine" label is a bit of an overstatement). Anyway, should you tire of our information, just text Unfollow CowlitzDEM to 40404. We can't guarantee that you will be picked first at dodgeball, but at least you'll have current emergency information to talk about while you're waiting.

Valentine's Day Quake

For more information on today's earthquake, click here. Surprisingly, we didn't feel it down here in the basement. Did you?

UPDATE: From Washington State Emergency Management Division: The quake has been re-examined and is now listed as a magnitude 4.3 at a depth of 3 miles. It is still believed that the quake was tectonic, not volcanic.

How did we here at DEM not feel that? We must have a case of the Mondays.

Did you feel it?

Our corner of the world just experienced a small earthquake, a magnitude 3.3, six miles NNW of Mt. St. Helens. Stay tuned for more info.

In Like a Lion?

March is supposed to come "in like a lion", but....it's only February! Well, OK, it's really not a huge storm so maybe this is just practice.

The weather service advised us that "after a relatively benign weather period which lulled the area into tranquility, Mother Nature will shake things up again". She appears to be doing just that with a little surprise wind advisory. Cowlitz County currently has a Wind Advisory in effect until 10 p.m. this evening. Winds gusting to 40-50 mph have already been reported at Portland and Salem airports and they are expected to continue throughout this evening.

In the higher terrain near the coastal mountains (northwest corner of Cowlitz County) higher sustained winds of 35-45, with gusts up to 70 mph are expected. This small section of our county has a High Wind Warning, as well as Wahkiakum and Pacific Counties.

Gusty winds may result in downed trees or tree limbs which could in turn cause power outages. Now would be a good time to familiarize yourself with our preparedness information - Windstorms, Power Outages and Home Generator Safety would be my recommendations for your reading pleasure. Stay warm and stay safe!