High Wind — Western Skagit County, Washington
2014-12-11 to 2014-12-12 · Western Skagit County, Washington
Event narrative
Mount Vernon had 40g58 mph.
Wider weather episode
A deep low moved north along the Washington coast but weakened with time. The strongest winds occurred inland from about Tacoma north. A Seattle Times article said there were 246,000 power customers affected, which would make this the highest impact storm of the season by a small margin.
Here is a Seattle Times article:
Vashon Highway Southwest between Southwest 112th Street and 116th Street is closed because of downed power lines.
The storm impacted nearly 246,000 customers.
Redmond police said 160th Avenue Northeast, between Northeast 83rd and Northeast 85th, remained closed Friday morning after scaffolding outside an apartment building under construction fell Thursday night.
The Point Defiance/Tahlequah ferry route is out of service until further notice because of storm damage to the Tahlequah terminal, according to Washington State Ferries. The alternate route is the North Vashon terminal.
Update at 6 a.m.: Puget Sound Energy says about 53,000 customers are without power in the utility's service area.
Meanwhile, several school districts are closing schools or starting late as a result of power outages and blocked roads. Check here for updates.
The tree that was blocking Highway 203 at 124th Street Northeast, south of Duvall, has been cleared.
Original post: Utility crews are making progress in restoring power to tens of thousands of homes and businesses in Western Washington that lost power during last night's windstorm.
Puget Sound Energy reported about 66,000 customers were still without power as of 4:30 a.m. Friday, down from a peak of nearly 105,000 at 1 a.m. Seattle City Light said just under 2,500 were in the dark as of 4:30 a.m.
The Snohomish County Public Utility District reported about 26,000 customers were without power.
Some school districts are observing modified schedules as a result of the storm.
In the Northshore School District, Timbercrest Junior High and Bear Creek and East Ridge elementary schools are closed Friday due to road closures and power outages. All other district schools will open two hours later than normal.
In the Everett School District, Everett High and Emerson and Woodside elementaries will be closed.
South Whidbey School District is closed.
In the Bethel School District in Pierce County, Roy Elementary School will start two hours late. The Toledo School District in Lewis County is also starting school two hours late.
Several streets are blocked by trees or debris, including state Highway 9 a mile north of Finn Settlement Road north of Arlington. Also, Highway 203 at 124th Street Northeast, south of Duvall, is blocked by a tree.
Officials say a tree fell onto the casino's 18,000-gallon propane tank and started a large fire roughly 30 feet from the casino.
Winds have gradually died down. Thursday night, the National Weather Service recorded gusts of 50 mph at Seattle's Alki Beach, 61 mph on Camano Island and 69 mph at the Whidbey Island Naval Air Station.
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 546454. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.