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In the wake of Hurricane Helene and now Hurricane Milton, some in Western Washington are asking, “Do we get hurricanes here?”

The short answer is no, but we do get hurricane-force winds via bomb cyclones.

Hurricanes are tropical cyclones fueled primarily by warm sea surface temperatures of 80 degrees or warmer. The water both Helene and Milton traversed in the Gulf of Mexico had temperatures in the mid and upper 80s, giving an exceptional jolt of energy, rapidly intensifying both hurricanes with winds of at least 140 mph sustained.

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Waters in the northern Pacific are much cooler than 80 degrees. Yet strong, dangerous wind storms can and do develop. In fact, they frequently happen across the northern Pacific during the fall and winter seasons. One such intense storm moved north into the Bering Sea just days ago on Oct. 3.

The storms that intensify rapidly are called meteorological bombs or the new term some have adopted – bomb cyclones. These are North Pacific storms that intensify by a drop of 24 millibars of atmospheric pressure or more in 24 hours or less. We often do not hear of these storms — until they approach Western Washington.

The last strong, widespread, damaging wind storm to strike Western Washington with winds well above 70 mph was the Hanukkah Eve Wind Storm of December 2006. Winds along the coast peaked near 145 mph. More than 1.5 million people lost electric power, some without power for well over a week.

Other memorable big, strong, impactful wind storms in recent decades include the 1993 Inauguration Day Storm that packed winds up to 65 mph, the 1979 Hood Canal Storm that had winds of 80 mph bringing down the floating bridge, the December 12, 1995 storm with winds up to 80 mph and the November 14, 1981 wind storm which had gusts up to 75 mph.

Yet the grand-daddy of them all, the wind storm all other wind storms are compared to, is the 1962 Columbus Day Storm: The strongest non-tropical wind storm to ever hit the lower 48 in American history. Winds along the Oregon and Washington coast had gusts up to 150 mph, and western interior winds from Eugene, Oregon to Vancouver, British Columbia, were in excess of 100 mph.

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The storm along the West Coast claimed 46 lives, hundreds were injured, thousands of buildings destroyed, power outages to millions from the San Francisco Bay Area to British Columbia, and it blew down 15 billion board feet of timber from the coast to Western Montana, enough lumber to build a million homes.

The Washington State Climatologist’s Office estimated the region gets a strong, damaging windstorm with winds up to 60 mph about every 10 to 20 years. Wind storms with hurricane-force winds occur far less frequently, yet they do impact the region with downed trees, and power and communication outages for extended periods of time. In the wake of the Columbus Day Storm, many did not have power restored for more than two weeks.

Hurricane Helene not only produced powerful winds, but also significant storm surge (wind driven water moving ashore), and immense rain amounts of up to 20 inches resulting in flooding in the southern Appalachian mountain region that had never been seen before. After making landfall in the Big Bend area of Florida on Sept. 26, many in the southeast still do not have power, phone service or even water service as a result of the devastation to infrastructure.

Back in 1962 with the Columbus Day Storm, utility crews from all over the nation moved into the region to help restore power. The effort was exceptionally challenging since even those big BPA transmission towers carrying hydroelectric power from east of the Cascades were toppled to the ground. Some did not get power restored until November.

In the Hanukkah Eve Wind Storm of December 2006, Puget Sound Energy (PSE) noted that they lost 70% of their infrastructure, including the loss of power lines and power poles by the hundreds.

The 1962 Western Washington population was approximately 1.25 million residents. Today, the population is close to 7 million.

What if another Columbus Day Storm-type storm struck the region today?

The impact would be immense, leaving millions without electric power for days, if not weeks. As it happened with the August 2023 Maui wildfire, cell phone towers would be without power, leaving cell phones likely useless. As it did in the Columbus Day storm, uprooted trees would knock out water and natural gas lines too. Gasoline would be in short supply since most service stations do not have backup power generators to operate their pumps.

With the Great Shakeout earthquake drill coming up on Oct. 17, a major earthquake would also disrupt power, communications and water and gas service for an extended period of time.

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Could the region handle being without these services for an extended period of time while response teams work to rebuild the infrastructure of these services? That is a good question.

We are witnessing how people in the southeastern U.S. are addressing these issues. What they are facing is something all of us should consider in our readiness for whatever nature throws at us.

As the 62nd anniversary of the 1962 Columbus Day Storm (Oct. 12) arrives, you may be motivated to take action and better prepare your home, business, car, pets and more. Visit or your local emergency management organization’s website for helpful lists and tips. Getting started on preparing in advance is the big first step and does not involve large expenses.

Ted Buehner is the ³ÉÈËXÕ¾ Newsradio meteorologist. You can read more of Ted’s stories here and follow him on .