Storm knocks out power for thousands in Thurston County, closes multiple schools
Stormy weather knocked out power for thousands of Thurston County residents Wednesday morning, prompting many schools to close.
The wider Thurston County region had over 200 outages as of 8:15 a.m. Wednesday, according to Puget Sound Energy. It showed more than 630 total outages and 135,500 customers affected across PSE’s service area in Western Washington.
The outages occurred amid heavy rain and strong winds, the third such weather event in just over a week, per a 6 a.m. PSE alert. Damages appeared spread throughout the Puget Sound, however PSE says Thurston, Pierce, Island and Skagit counties were the most impacted. Find Energy, a private website that collects data from electric utilities, estimated about 29,000 Thurston County customers were without power at 9 a.m.
PSE reported 25,000 Thurston County customers had no power in a noon update. Crews restored power to more than 61% of customers across the PSE service area by about 3:30 p.m. In Thurston and Pierce Counties, crews had fixed three of nine damaged transmission segments.
Crews were assessing the extent of the damage in the afternoon. Earlier in the day, PSE said additional crews from outside the region were supporting local crews as they work “around the clock” to restore power as safely as possible.
“We started damage assessment early this morning in areas where it was safe for our teams to be in the field,” the noon PSE update said. “We will set estimated restoration times once we have an initial assessment of damage.”
A flood watch remained in effect through 4 p.m. Thursday, according to the National Weather Service. A high wind warning expired at 10 a.m. Wednesday.
All the rainfall has saturated soils, creating the threat of landslides and debris flows, the NWS warns.
PSE advises the public to avoid touching or going within 35 feet of a downed power line because they may still be energized.
“Above all, safety comes first — please take extra precautions and stay safe out there,” a morning PSE alert said.
The power outages prompted many local schools to close.
All North Thurston Public Schools closed Wednesday due to power outages, the district announced.
Olympia School District said Boston Harbor and McLane elementary schools would start three hours late due to power outages. All other OSD schools were operating as scheduled.
Tumwater School District said Littlerock Elementary would start two hours later due to power outages. All other TSD schools were operating as scheduled. Black Lake Elementary School lost power during the day, but power was restored by 2:10 p.m.
Yelm Community Schools closed Lackamas Elementary School Wednesday due to a power outage, the district announced. All other YCS were operating as scheduled.
Several Thurston County government facilities had no power Wednesday morning, including The Atrium at 3000 Pacific Ave. SE in Olympia and the courthouse complex at 2000 Lakeridge Drive SW in Olympia.
Joint Animal Services closed to the public Wednesday due to a power outage. However, the agency said staff were still caring for animals on site and responding to field service priority calls.
WSDOT closed State Route 121 in both directions near Maytown at about 3 p.m. Wednesday, according to the agency’s travel map. The closure was in effect between milepost 0.01 and 4.23 near 113th Avenue Southwest.
Thurston County closed several roads Wednesday. Tilly Road Southwest at 143rd Avenue Southeast was closed due to fallen trees on power lines.
Young Road Northwest was closed at Gravelly Beach Loop due to storm damage. Young Road was also closed from the 6800 block to the 7000 block. Additionally, Steamboat Island Road Northwest was closed north of Island Drive Northwest due to fallen trees on power lines.
This story was originally published December 17, 2025 at 8:38 AM.
