Strong winds, river flooding to continue in Thurston County into Wednesday
Strong winds were expected to batter the Olympia area into early Wednesday, adding risks of power outages to already expected heavy rainfall and potential flooding.
The National Weather Service in Seattle issued a high wind warning for the Olympia area early Tuesday morning. The warning also affects the coast and areas from Seattle southward.
Southwest winds were expected to reach 30 to 40 miles per hour between 1 p.m. Tuesday and 1 a.m. Wednesday. Wind gusts could reach 55 miles per hour, the NWS says.
Such strong winds could blow down trees and power lines, creating widespread power outages. The NWS says it will be easier for trees to come down since soils have been saturated by recent rainfall.
The NWS recommended that people avoid driving and being outside, especially in forested areas or near trees and branches. If possible, people were advised to stay in the lower levels of their homes and avoid windows as well.
The windstorm comes as utility crews were still working on restoring power to some residents affected by a series of storms that started last week.
Tuesday morning, Puget Sound Energy estimated there were still 101 active outages that affected 4,025 customers in its entire service area. In the Thurston County area, PSE reported over 20 outages.
PSE said it had restored power to more than 170,000 customers since the storms started. It blamed the outages on trees and limbs that fell due to heavy and sometimes freezing rain as well as strong winds.
Given the forecast, PSE says residents should be ready for new outages. A map of all outages and estimated restoration times can be found at the PSE website.
“Today’s windstorm has the potential to slow our restoration efforts and cause new outages to occur across our service area,” PSE said in a Tuesday morning update. “We’re prepared to respond to new outages as soon as it’s safe to do so.”
On Monday, the NWS issued a flood watch for Thurston County as well as portions of northwest and west central Washington through Wednesday morning.
Weekend snow and ice melt already has caused rivers to rise, and the NWS says excessive rainfall on Tuesday could push some rivers to flood stage later Tuesday and into Wednesday. Flooding also may occur in areas with poor drainage and urban areas.
Another NWS update warned of potential landslides in western Washington amid these conditions.
Temperatures in the Olympia area were expected to peak at 53 degrees on Tuesday before falling to a low of a about 40 degrees at night.
From Wednesday to Friday, highs will reach the mid-40s and lows will be in the high 30s, according to the NWS. Showers will likely occur through Wednesday and rain remains in the forecast for the rest of the week.
Looking ahead, the NWS says a series of weaker weather systems will affect the area from Thursday to Saturday. However, News Years Day may be relatively drier.
This story was originally published December 27, 2022 at 10:54 AM.
