I guess it’s just as well we got the maple cut down. Check out Mark Nelson’s (Channel 12) forecast for tomorrow. This is exactly what sent huge branches crashing down on us before, damaging Nolemana’s car and our roof and gutters. We may lose power this time, but it’s nice to know that we’re not in danger from the tree that used to be in our driveway.

1. The National Weather Service has issued a High Wind Watch for the western valleys, the only one of this entire “storm season”!  That’s due to an abundance of caution even though it’s unlikely we see widespread gusts above the 58 mph criteria required for a High Wind Warning.   Remember it’s a WATCH, not a WARNING.  The NWS may upgrade to a warning tomorrow or convert to a Wind Advisory…we’ll see.
2. When comparing current models to last year’s storm, they are all a bit weaker, by maybe 10 mph.  That plus the low placement/depth leads me to believe that instead of 45-60 mph gusts in the valleys (last year) it’ll be more like 40-55mph for the vast majority of us.
3. Coastal wind gusts were “weak” last year; the main action was inland.  We’ll see how that plays out this year.  In the springtime the strong upper-level winds mix down easily in the “warm” valleys so we can get as windy as the Coast.
4. 42 mph is the peak southerly wind gust we’ve seen in the past 6 months.  Very weak.  That means it’ll be relatively easy to topple a few trees here and there.  Expect plenty of power outages, even if we only see gusts 40-45 mph.