Columbus Day windstorm disaster blows Olympic Peninsula and Puget Sound on October 12, 1962.

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On October 12, 1962, Columbus Day, a windstorm ravages the Puget Sound region in what the National Weather service later designates as Washington's worst weather disaster of the twentieth century. Forty-seven people are killed between Vancouver B.C. and San Francisco, nine in Washington. Wind measuring devices measure gusts of 150 miles per hour early in the storm before power outages disable the instruments.

The hurricane-type storm swept up the Pacific Coast striking Northern California, Oregon, and southwest Washington. The center of the storm remained off the coast where ships reported it as "dangerous." A World Series game in San Francisco was postponed and Oregon was particularly hard hit. It was the second large storm to hit the Northwest in two days. A smaller storm on October 11 killed eight people in Oregon, Washington, and Idaho.

The high winds first hit Seattle at approximately 7:00 p.m. and peaked at about 9:30 p.m. At Fort Lawton gusts were clocked at 83 m.p.h. Bellingham saw 92 m.p.h. winds.

Guests at the Century 21 World's Fair were evacuated at 9:15 p.m. as a precaution. The Food Circus was kept open all night to shelter fair goers who preferred to stay indoors. Power and phone service failures were common as trees cut wires. Utility crews worked for days to restore service. All the utilities agreed that the storm was the worst in their histories. Ferries stopped running between 10:00 p.m. and 1:30 a.m. The ferry Enetai left Seattle for Bremerton at 8:40 p.m. had to turn around at 9:30 p.m. and return because of the winds.

Seattle Police, U.S. Navy, and U.S. Army personnel stood watch over shattered store windows downtown to discourage looting.

There were many stories of harrowing escapes, but few injuries. There was one death in King County. Roger Whitman, age 38, was killed when a tree struck his truck.

The storm flattened 17 billion board feet of timber, particularly on the Olympic Peninsula. A massive salvage effort resulted, but the supply exceeded the demand in regional lumber mills. The State of Washington later contracted with a Japanese firm to salvage the "raw logs" from state-owned lands, which triggered a long and bitter debate over the export of state timber. In 1966, approximately 350 million board feet of timber were shipped to Japan.

Sources:
Peggy Anderson, "Columbus Day Storm Century's Worst in State," Columbian, December 13, 1999; Bill Kossen, "New Month, Old Forecast...," The Seattle Times October 1, 2000; "After The Big Storm," Seattle Post-Intelligencer, October 14, 1962, p. 1, 2; "34 Dead In Raging Storm; Seattle Area Is Hard Hit," Ibid., October 13, 1962, p. 1, 2; Dave Pease, "The First Hundred Years: From Oxen to Computers," Forest Industries, October 1990, pp. 14-18.

By David Wilma, February 28, 2003

This file made possible by:
Washington Forest Protection Association

Path of Columbus Day storm, 1962
Courtesy National Weather Service

Timber downed during Columbus Day storm, 1962
Courtesy National Weather Service

Columbus Day storm damage to motel, 1962
Courtesy National Weather Service