Wacky Wind

Something very new to me happened this afternoon. While a cold front was passing through the region a "lee-wave low" was created east of the Olympics, mainly over Seattle and northern areas. What this did was create a pressure gradient of nearly 3 or 4 milibars difference just 15 miles apart, a very strong gradient in this kind of vicinity. This created very gusty winds coming up from the south, evidenced by the waves crashing over the 520 bridge early this afternoon. Gusts reached 52 at Alki and 46 in Magnolia and at UW. While Everett only reached a gust of 20mph? Huh. Very strange to have such localized wind. Had reports of damage in Mercer Island as well as in the Phinney Neighborhood of Seattle. Here is a good article detailing the days weather details

http://www.komonews.com/weather/blog/108294304.html