STATE OF WASHINGTON — Low pressure that has dropped so low it could be a record will cause a Fujiwhara effect by turning north and west, then pushing another low pressure inward along the Washington coastline on Friday.

The new spinning low will not drop to 942 mb like Tuesday, but will be near 978 mb as it deepens. This will happen as the route runs from our south coast to Vancouver Island late Friday.

Although not as strong, the low pressure will generate a wave of easterly winds through the Cascade vents. Strong winds from the east and southeast will blow across the damaged landscape, where trees were uprooted and electricity poles snapped in half just days earlier.

Gusty winds began rushing through gaps in the Cascade Mountains after midnight Friday morning. Wind gusts of 30 to 80 kilometers per hour were expected between midnight and 9 a.m. Friday.

The strongest gusts are expected to align with the mountain gorges, often impacting Enumclaw, Buckley, North Bend, Snoqualmie, Issaquah and Snohomish.

The National Weather Service has issued a wind advisory for the eastern Puget Sound lowlands until 10 a.m. Friday to highlight this upcoming round of “Cascadia” gap winds.

This second round of easterly gusts will threaten even more trees, as they could fall as they have been weakened by the earlier storm. While not as powerful as Tuesday’s explosion, these winds still pose a renewed threat and the need for caution in the early morning hours.

Around 10 a.m. Friday, the wind direction will shift to south/southeast, eliminating stronger gusts in the western reaches and creating very strong winds across the Washington coast.

The wave of southerly winds will produce gusts of up to 65 miles per hour for the south coast, including the Long Beach Peninsula. A high wind warning has been issued for headlands and beach communities in southwestern Washington and northwestern Oregon.

The rest of the day the Washington coastline, along with the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the northern interior, will see southerly gusts of 70-90 km per hour. Most of the metropolitan area closer to sea level will see southerly gusts of 40 to 50 km/h, although some gusts of 60 to 80 km/h are possible north of Mukilteo. The wind will slowly decrease on Saturday.

Rain will accompany the morning wind. By midday the persistent rain will become heavier with possible thunderstorms in the western part of the Olympic Peninsula.

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