Olympic Blowdown of January 29, 1921

In January 1921 there was a severe wind event that greatly affected the Olympic peninsula. Below are two accounts of this event.

The Olympic Blowdown of January 29, 1921 (HTML)

The powerful windstorm of January 29, 1921 was a major event, especially for the Washington coast and in the Olympic Mountains. Winds of hurricane force were estimated to have raked the Pacific Northwest shores from Central Oregon to the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The Forest Service indicated that total loss of standing timber was the greatest on record for the country at that time, with several billion board feet blown down. A Weather Bureau observer for the North Head station wrote an official report on the storm, and reflected upon the drama. Read full article. - compiled by Wolf Read

 

Tornado destroys great forest (.pdf)

In the short space of two and one-half hours, a tornado which struck the Olympic Peninsula, Wash., destroyed a portion of one of the finest stands of timber in the world. The storm, which came without warning, is said to have reached a velocity of 180 miles an hour off the Columbia River. At North Head, the gusts reached an estimated velocity of 150 miles an hour, while the instrument indicated 126 miles an hour over a five-minute period and was then carried away. The instrument at the Lone Tree station, off Gray's Harbor, registered 140 miles an hour for a three-minute period. Read full article.