— by Lin McNulty, Managing Editor —

Photo: Karen Key Speck

Take a drive through Moran State Park on any given day and you may notice many downed trees strewn about the forest. Drive through yesterday or today and you will see at least the remnants of an estimated 25 trees that blew over and down during our recent Nor’easter, including the monstrous tree that was knocked over and into an unoccupied building at Camp Moran retreat center.

Yes, a Nor’easter is a storm along the East Coast of North America, so called because the winds over the coastal area are typically from the northeast. But our recent winds came blowing from the Fraser River on British Columbia, which is Northeast of us. So what would you call it, if not that?

Public Works verifies that 25 trees were across the roadway at Moran State Park and another 12 were strewn across roadways around the island. Crews continue work today in the park clearing debris.

National Weather Service records from Orcas airport indicate the highest wind gust of 26 mph registered on February 3 at 9:15 p.m. We know that’s not right. A reader commented to Orcas Issues that much of the night it sounded like a freight train on their roof.

Forecasts call for a new storm to develop off the coast of of the state on Friday. This storm may have a similar track and amount of cold air to the one earlier in the week. This could also bring similar snowfall amounts across the region.

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