High winds expected for much of Thursday

Outages possible

Strong winds are predicted to hit Washington’s coastal communities for much of today, as the National Weather Service has issued a high wind warning for Pacific County, along with a wind advisory in Grays Harbor County.

The National Weather Service says the wind could be strong enough to break tree branches and knock out power in some places.

The wind warning is more severe, with predicted winds of 25 to 35 mph and gusts of up to 60 mph, primarily between mid-morning and mid-afternoon Thursday in areas along the southern Washington coast, then weakening further inland. This includes towns such as Long Beach and Ocean Park, and extends down into Oregon coastal communities. The warning is in effect 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The probable impacts listed online include blown-down trees and power lines, which could result in outages.

The wind advisory for Grays Harbor is predicting winds of 20 to 35 mph, and gusts up to 45 mph in the afternoon and evening, lasting until midnight when they are expected to die down. The advisory will be affecting Hoquiam and Aberdeen, and coastal towns such as Westport and Ocean Shores. The Weather Service also advises drivers to take caution in the winds as driving can be difficult, especially for high-profile vehicles such as trucks and SUVs which can be tipped over.