Weather

Storm Knocks Out Power For Hours Across Western Washington

More than 150,000 remained without power Wednesday evening after a powerful storm moved across the region.

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SEATTLE — A powerful storm, packed with wind gusts topping 70 mph in some areas, moved across Western Washington early Wednesday, leaving hundreds of thousands without power Wednesday and a few major roads closed into the evening hours.

Early Wednesday, more than half a million Puget Sound Energy customers were without power. By 10 a.m., that number was cut in half, but 258,000 were still in the dark. In Seattle, City Light reported more than 40,000 still without power, with roughly 10,000 among Tacoma Public Utilities customers.

By noon, PSE crews had whittled down its outages to 216,000 customers, and more than 150,000 were still in need of power restoration at 6 p.m.

Seattle City Light said its crews were dispatched to more than 120 individual outages Wednesday, affecting 74,000 customers, with the highest concentration seen south of the Ship Canal. High winds brought trees down across the city, and Seattle Parks crews responded to a slide on the Burke-Gilman Trail.

Live outage maps:

Flooding, downed trees and other debris blocked roads in several areas, including a section of State Route 169. Up north, a semi-truck tipped on the Deception Pass bridge shortly before 4 a.m., prompting a three-hour closure. Closures were in place for much of Wednesday in cities across Puget Sound.

In King County, officials activated their snowplows to help clear piles of mud, branches and other hazards.

Here are some of the peak wind gusts recorded early Wednesday:

  • Seattle: 45 mph
  • Bellevue: 52 mph
  • Renton Airport: 46 mph
  • Kirkland: 40 mph
  • JBLM: 58 mph
  • Tacoma: 56 mph
  • Puyallup: 40 mph
  • Paradise: 66 mph
  • Ferndale: 70 mph

The powerful storm built on the wettest start to the year for several areas. The National Weather Service said Seattle had logged 20 percent of its typical annual rainfall by Wednesday morning, outpacing every other January on record.

Here are some of the 48-hour rain totals (as of 6 a.m. Wednesday)

  • Seattle: 3.65 inches
  • Bellevue: 2.64 inches
  • Renton Airport: 1.78 inches
  • University Place: 3.63 inches
  • Gig Harbor: 2.73 inches
  • Puyallup: 2.6 inches
  • Tacoma: 3.2 inches
  • Granite Falls: 6.59 inches
  • Olympia: 5.2 inches

According to the National Weather Service, the heavy rains have come to an end and winds have peaked, however, flooding concerns and landslide risks will continue into Thursday. Several rivers from King County and southward are above flood stage but expected to crest by late Wednesday.

Flood warnings continued for several rivers, including sections of the Snoqualmie, Tolt and Stillaguamish rivers. Find live river forecasts near you online.

Drier weather is forecast for Thursday ahead of weaker systems moving into the area Friday through the weekend, with a chance for light rain and mountain snow. Further impacts are expected to be minimal.

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