A huge windstorm – what one local weather chaser called a ‘truly unique tempest’ and classified as a ‘1 in 10 year category’ – slammed the region early Sunday morning, knocking out power to thousands.
The storm hit around 1 a.m. and continued for two or so hours, with gusts up to 60 mph – perhaps the strongest wind storm since 2006 – knocking down branches, trees, fences and just about anything not tied down.
“The damaging windstorm has caused widespread outages around our service area, with the heaviest damage concentrated in King, Pierce and Thurston counties,” Puget Sound Energy said. “As of 11 a.m. there are approximately 181,000 customers without power. While we will be working as quickly as we safely can, we expect that some customers may be without power for multiple days.” (see Puget Sound Energy’s Outage Map here.)
We know it’s difficult to be without power, especially on cold winter days, we’re working as quickly as we can to assess damage & begin making repairs—with safety as our top priority. #wawx #wawind pic.twitter.com/dgTdzluhTd
— Puget Sound Energy (@PSETalk) January 6, 2019
There are a few stoplights out in Kent and Covington. Please stop as if there was a stop sign in place and be careful out there!
— City of Kent, WA (@cityofkent) January 6, 2019
SKFR crews have responded to over 50 incidents related to the wind storm already. If you come across down wires please assume they are live and go another direction. Several roads in our area are closed because of down trees and wires.
— South King Fire (@Southkingfire) January 6, 2019
Public Works, @Southkingfire @dmpdk9dez are working hard trying to clear power lines, debris and fallen ?. ?are not working, ? are blocking 219th Marine View and 216th Marine View. Stay home ? ? if you can! MB pic.twitter.com/V77AjSssdi
— Des Moines Police, WA (@DesMoinesPolice) January 6, 2019
NEW VIDEO! 300,000 customers have lost power as a Major damaging windstorm took place in the early morning hours of January 6th, 2019. In Des Moines, Washington, multiple power flashes from arching power lines or exploding transformers were observed. #wawx pic.twitter.com/g600MRVsCv
— Washington Weather Chasers (@WaWxChasers) January 6, 2019
How was last night’s wind storm different than the others this winter? We took a look at the differences and came up with a quick explainer! #wawx #wawind pic.twitter.com/TGIOOsPQJJ
— NWS Seattle (@NWSSeattle) January 6, 2019
Watch out for fallen trees & downed power lines! The damaging windstorm has caused widespread outages around our service area, with the heaviest damage concentrated in King, Pierce & Thurston counties. #wawx #wawind pic.twitter.com/Qr89GazMHx
— Puget Sound Energy (@PSETalk) January 6, 2019
A truly unique tempest. The incredible gusts and 2 hour duration of the storm has put this windstorm into the 1 in 10 year category. Very rare company indeed. Strongest winds since Dec 2006 #wawx pic.twitter.com/zTc3NtxomR
— Michael Snyder (@guyinjeep16) January 6, 2019
Barometer watching at it’s finest….
Get pumped! #wawx@WaWxChasers @KSeattleWeather @NWSSeattle @ScottSKOMO @MorganKIRO7 @Rebecca_Weather @ShannonODKOMO pic.twitter.com/v74Fe3lfA8— Michael Snyder (@guyinjeep16) January 6, 2019
The Burien Library has no power and is closed at this time. They plan to open if power is restored before 6PM. Federal Way has power but the public computers are down.Get the latest information about hours of operation and nearby libraries on our website. https://t.co/01vcuQ8Gho pic.twitter.com/m4jyLjUo3F
— King County Library (@KCLS) January 6, 2019
Here are some photos of damage seen near Burien’s Eagle Landing Park parking lot, courtesy Shelli Park:
A large tree fell and took out power lines and a fence at S 304th St and 25th Pl S in Federal Way. Winds have calmed but lots of tree debris on the roads. scattered power outages. #komonews pic.twitter.com/m6HaccBYyW
— Peter Mongillo (@PeterMonPhotog) January 6, 2019
