Wind gusts, rain cause power outages across Thurston County Monday
Power outages were affecting neighborhoods throughout Thurston County Monday morning as strong gusts hit the region.
Puget Sound Energy reported about two dozen outages in Thurston County, affecting over 2,000 customers as of 9 a.m. Monday, according to their outage map. Work crews were still investigating the cause of many of the outages at that time.
However, PSE generally attributed the outages to “damaging winds and rain“ across its entire service area in a 6 a.m. notice.
“Today’s power outages are the result of strong winds coupled with stressed trees that still have their leaves,” PSE says. “In gusty winds, that means trees can topple more easily and damage power equipment, and branches can take flight and hit power lines.”
Strong, gusty winds were forecast to continue Monday, according to the National Weather Service in Seattle.
While some coastal areas can expect wind gusts as high as 60 miles per hour, the NWS says the Olympia area will likely see gusts in the 35-40 mph range. Winds were expected to decrease around 8-11 p.m. Monday, per the NWS.
Rain also will continue Monday with the heaviest precipitation concentrated along the western and southern slopes of the Olympics, according to the NWS. Thunderstorms may also be possible along the coast and parts of the Olympic Peninsula.
While the Olympic Peninsula may get as much as 4 inches of rain, the NWS says the Olympia area was expected to get just over 1 inch of rain Monday.
Area rivers are expected to rise due to cumulative rainfall, particularly the Skokomish River in Mason County, which the NWS expected to reach flood stage Monday.
Due to the weather, Olympia Waldorf School canceled all classes and aftercare on Monday, according to a news alert.
Looking ahead, the NWS predicts rain will continue through Friday while highs remain in the mid-50s and lows in the stay in 40s. However, the forecast indicates Saturday and Sunday will be mostly sunny with a slight chance of rain and highs in the low 50s.
In Thurston County, PSE’s outage map indicates the largest area with an outage was along State Route 8 from the Summit Lake area to Madrona Beach, affecting about 785 customers.
A large area between Hicks Lake and Long Lake along Carpenter Road Southeast in Lacey also was experiencing an outage that impacted about 1,079 customers, according to the map.
Another large outage affected about 553 customers near Castlewood and Woodfield Estates between 18th Avenue Southeast and Morse-Merryman Road Southeast in Olympia Monday morning, according to the map.
All in all, Thurston County fared better than some of its neighbors. PSE says most outages were concentrated in King and Pierce counties.
So far, PSE said more than 141,000 customers had been affected by power outages across its entire service area since the weekend storm moved in. Of that total, power had been restored to over 116,000 customers, with about 25,000 still without power as of 6 a.m. Monday.
As PSE crews continued to work on restoring power, the company cautioned that assessments and repairs will be time consuming.
“This process takes time in a widespread wind event — especially with active weather still occurring — and we truly appreciate your patience as we work to provide estimated restoration times as quickly as possible,” PSE said.
Updates for estimated restoration times can be found on the outage map at pse.com/outagemap. Residents also can check for status updates on the myPSE app.
PSE reminded residents not to touch or go within 35 feet of downed power lines because they may be energized.
If residents are without power, PSE recommends people use flashlights rather than candles, move portable heaters away from flammable material, and avoid using natural gas ranges or charcoal for heating and cooking.
This story was originally published October 25, 2021 at 9:18 AM.
