People here on the coastal regions of northern California and Oregon are notorious for enjoying storm watching almost as much as whale watching.
On Tuesday, November 26th, communities up and down the coast witnessed some of the most extreme weather conditions the region has ever seen.
Inland, in Jackson County, Squaw Peak recorded 90 mph winds at 6:40pm. However, it was the maritime weather station at the U.S. Coast Guard Station at Cape Blanco Oregon that recorded a 106 mph windspeed at 2:00pm Tuesday afternoon with sustained winds of over 80 mph.
In Northern California, Crescent City peaked at 72 mph according to National Weather Service reports. Ferndale California hit 80 mph and the windspeeds generally decreased the further south you traveled.
Most areas in southern Oregon experienced some electrical outages that were quickly restored, however Cape Ferello power was still out late Wednesday night at last reports.
The Crescent City area was hit hard with high winds that did considerable damage throughout the community. Power was out to approximately 19,000 people at the peak of the storm Tuesday afternoon. At 4:00pm Pacific Power gave an update on the power outage that occurred in Crescent City Monday affecting thousands of homes and businesses was down to 900 without power at that time and that they were hoping to have 600 or 700 more up by midnight Tuesday, with the rest being restored sometime Thursday.
Inland Tuesday night and into Wednesday, the precipitation related to the storm turned to snow and ice. On the Siskiyou Summit south of Ashland Oregon, hundreds of people were stranded on I-5 for almost 24 hours after hundreds of vehicles spun out before Interestate 5 was closed near the border in both directions Tuesday. Officials had no estimate to re-open the roadway Wednesday morning since they had to dig out and remove vehicles before the roadway could be plowed and re-opened.
After 3:00pm Wednesday afternoon, Caltrans closed Hwy. 101 in the Miranda area of Humboldt County. Crews are responding to multiple collisions due to hail and icy road conditions. All roads were open Wednesday.
