【Future Sex (2018)】

An intense storm system taking direct aim at the Pacific Northwest on Future Sex (2018)Saturday contains the DNA of a super typhoon mixed with the heritage of a classic fall storm.

Depending on whether recent computer model projections are correct, the storm could be the worst to hit the region since at least 2006, and in a worst-case scenario it might earn comparisons to the Columbus Day storm of 1962, which caused widespread damage and long-lasting power outages.

High wind watches for winds gusting to more than 60 miles per hour have been posted for much of western Washington, including the Seattle metro area, as well as Oregon and parts of northern California.

In Oregon, a hurricane force wind watch is in effect along the coast for the storm the Weather Service office in Portland is calling the "Ides of October" storm.

The storm will be powered by an unusually strong jet stream with upper level winds reaching speeds of nearly 200 miles per hour at altitudes of around 35,000 feet over the Pacific.

This jet stream will help add fuel for this storm to help it intensify rapidly between Friday and Saturday. The origins of this jet stream and the storm system itself can be traced back to Typhoon Songda, which spun up over the western Pacific on Oct. 8 and intensified into a super typhoon before weakening.

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That typhoon helped reshape the Pacific jet stream, with the remaining disturbance getting carried like a ripple in a stream downwind by the jet stream.

The winds from the Saturday storm could exceed 100 miles per hour in some locations, particularly in higher elevations. In addition, high surf and mountain snows will also be threats from this storm. Wave heights of greater than 40 feet are possible if the storm intensifies as significantly as some projections have shown it will.

A separate storm system has been causing high winds, heavy rains and mountain snows, along with isolated tornadoes on Friday.

A look at the storm battering the Pac Northwest today with lightning, tornado warnings, and damaging winds. Another in the hopper for tmrw pic.twitter.com/LoErinwZod

— Eric Fisher (@ericfisher) October 14, 2016

One tornado caused damage in Manzanita, Oregon on Friday.

Stunning video of the Tornado heading towards #Manzanita #CoastTornado #koin6news pic.twitter.com/rVLJg6P6l5

— Dan Tilkin (@DanTilkinKOIN6) October 14, 2016

There is still considerable uncertainty in the forecast for the storm's intensity and track on Saturday into Saturday evening, in part because of the relative paucity of weather observations over the northeast Pacific.

If the storm intensifies significantly and tracks close to the Washington coastline, damaging winds are more likely in both Seattle and Portland, Oregon. If the storm remains slightly weaker and tracks farther north, the effects may not be as significant.

As the Washington Post's Capital Weather Gang reported on Friday, "Some of the most extreme model solutions which suggested a storm of historic proportions earlier this week have backed off. Even so, those most familiar with Pacific Northwest weather patterns warn this storm will still be very serious."

The rapid intensification that the storm is predicted to undergo also makes it difficult to gauge the precise impacts it will have, but people from Vancouver, British Columbia south to northern California should expect a seriously stormy weekend.