The National Weather Service in Seattle has issued a high wind watch for all or parts of King, San Juan, Whatcom, and Skagit Counties, starting Thursday evening and continuing through Thursday night. Stormy weather is expected for this area through the weekend. A high wind watch means there is the potential for damaging winds.

Strong winds are expected across the western Washington lowlands early Thursday evening, peaking around midnight or early Friday morning. Winds in the Puget Sound region could reach 20 to 35 mph with gusts of 45 to 55 mph. The weather service warns that winds could break tree branches, topple small trees and possibly cut power.

The storm will begin with rain developing across western Washington tonight, with an increase in southerly winds expected Thursday afternoon, starting on the coast and spreading inland overnight.

Heavy rainfall is expected through Friday morning, with projections of 1 to 3 inches over the interior lowlands, 2 to 5 inches along the coast and in the Cascade Mountains and 4 to 8 inches over the Olympic Mountains. This will cause area rivers to rise and possible flooding.

Friday will be rainy and windy, but another severe storm is expected Saturday. According to the weather service, an incredibly deep low pressure center, resulting from Typhoon Songda in the Western Pacific, will move into the Northeast Pacific Saturday. The center has a 2/3 chance of bypassing the Washington coast, resulting in a strong seasonal windstorm.

“There is a 1 in 3 chance of the low center directly crossing some part of Western Washington. This would be a worst-case scenario leading to a historical windstorm for nearly all of Western Washington that would be long remembered,” reads the National Weather Service warning.

For the latest severe weather information, visit http://www.weather.gov.