High winds, torrential rains cause damage and power outages in Olympia area

Thousands of people were without power in western Washington after high winds swept through overnight and then picked back up Monday afternoon.

The National Weather Service said many areas were seeing gusts topping 50 mph, including a report of a 63 mph gust in West Seattle with even stronger winds on the coast and in north-central and northeastern Washington.

A high wind warning was issued Monday for much of western Washington. It was in effect until 9 p.m., according to the National Weather service.

Monday’s winds resulted in a number of power outages in the central Puget Sound region. Puget Sound Energy reported 29,000 customers without power Monday afternoon.

Through Wednesday, the forecast for the Olympia area calls for persistent heavy rain and wind. Up to 2 inches of rain could fall Tuesday night, followed by less than an inch of rainfall Wednesday.

Winds will taper off from Monday’s gusts, but still will be in the range of 17 to 23 mph, with gusts up to 32 mph. Wind speeds should fall to 10 mph Wednesday.

Reports of damage and power outages came in Monday from throughout Thurston County and surrounding counties.

Among the reports:

▪ 41st Avenue Northeast from Schincke Road to Lemon Road were closed Monday because utility lines were down, Thurston County said.

▪ Nearly 10,000 were without power in Lacey, and city officials were warning residents to be careful at intersections because some traffic signals were not working.

“Our staff is working to install generators at affected intersections,” the city said via social media. “Reminder: treat affected intersections as 4-way stops.”

Some of the outages ran along Ruddell Road, Yelm Highway, and College Street, the city of Lacey announced on its Facebook page.

▪ Power was restored to Lacey area schools, North Thurston Public Schools said in a tweet, but Olympia schools were still dealing with some outages, according to the district on Monday afternoon.

Olympia High School, Washington Middle School, Centennial Elementary School and Pioneer Elementary School were without power and phone service, according to Puget Sound Energy.

▪ Mason County PUD 3 crews worked to restore electricity to more than 4,100 of its customers Monday morning.

“The area hardest hit is the west Tahuya Peninsula, where wind gusts were reported at nearly 40 mph,” Mason PUD 3 posted on its blog.

▪ Wind gusts Monday afternoon reached 47 mph at the Tacoma Narrows Bridge and 49 mph at Sea-Tac Airport.

This story was originally published November 13, 2017 at 12:05 PM with the headline "High winds, torrential rains cause damage and power outages in Olympia area."