Winds gusting to 50 miles per hour swept across Whidbey Island Tuesday morning, disrupting ferry service on the Coupeville (Keystone)-Port Townsend route.

Sustained winds from the southeast were pushed ahead of a cold front moving in from the Pacific Coast, Danny Mercer, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Seattle, said Tuesday morning.

He said hardest hit about 7 a.m. were an area from Whidbey north to Bellingham. The winds were expected to move south to the Seattle-Tacoma region, tapering off by afternoon, he said.

High wind and rough seas forced cancellation of the 8 a.m. ferry sailing from Port Townsend, and the 8:45 sailing from Coupeville (Keystone).

Travelers were advised by Washington State Ferries to take the Edmonds-Kingston or Clinton-Mukilteo routes to and from the Olympic Peninsula and Whidbey Island.

Marta Coursey, WSF spokeswoman, said Tuesday morning that the wind had not otherwise affected service between Clinton and Mukilteo.

Meanwhile, winds were expected to die down through the rest of the week, with showers and rain forecast, Mercer said.