Mega-storm packing 150 mph winds and 50-foot waves set to pummel West Coast
The National Weather Service issued an extraordinary storm alert yesterday, warning against a. “worst case scenario, historical windstorm…that would be long remembered,” the alert stated. At that time, forecasters pegged the odds of the “worst-case scenario” landfall at 1 in 3. They’ve since darkened the outlook, saying the odds of a catastrophic outcome are 50–50.
So where did this all come from? A geographic area that — through the oddities of weather nomenclature — doesn’t produce easily-marketed “named” storms a la Matthew and Nicole. But the net effects are the same.
The remnant of Typhoon Songa has refocused into an unprecedented weather system comparable only to Seattle’s 1962 Columbus Day Storm, which killed 46 people with 150 mph winds and coastal flooding.
The 1962 storm leveled thousands of buildings from California to Canada and killed nearly 50.
On Tuesday, the NWS pointed out that the population and building density of the area has tripled since 1962, raising questions about the risk area residents face as the storm approaches — and whether anyone knows the storm is coming.