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SEATTLE (AP) — High winds downed trees and power lines Christmas morning, cutting off electricity to thousands of homes across the region.
There were no immediate reports of any serious damage or injuries.
At the peak of the outages Sunday morning, about 20,000 Puget Sound Energy customers in King, Pierce, Thurston, Kitsap, Lewis, Whatcom, Island and Skagit counties had lost power, said Lynn Carlson, a spokeswoman for the utility.
By early afternoon, power had been restored to all but 5,000 to 6,000 homes, primarily in Kitsap county. The company expected to restore power to most of the remaining customers by the end of the day, Carlson said.
In Oregon, Portland General Electric said 30,000 of its customers lost power at the peak of the wind storm.
PGE spokeswoman Ariana White said power was restored to all but 4,000 of those customers by 3:30 p.m., and most of the remaining customers — most of them southeast of Portland and in eastern Multnomah County — should be back online by the end of the day.
“Our crews are working fast and furious to hopefully get the majority of our customers back before nightfall,” White said, adding that some repairs may have to wait until daylight on Monday.
Back in Washington state, the Snohomish County Public Utility District said about 4,500 of its customers lost power. Outages were reported on Camano Island, in Arlington and Marysville, and scattered elsewhere in the county.
Seattle City Light said about 50 customers lost power in the south end of the city.
The winds came a day after record-setting temperatures.
The National Weather Service said Saturday’s high of 62 degrees in Seattle broke the previous record of 55 degrees set in 1950. Three days after the official start of winter, the mercury climbed to 63 degrees in Tacoma — tying a record set 22 years ago.
There were no immediate reports of any serious damage or injuries.
At the peak of the outages Sunday morning, about 20,000 Puget Sound Energy customers in King, Pierce, Thurston, Kitsap, Lewis, Whatcom, Island and Skagit counties had lost power, said Lynn Carlson, a spokeswoman for the utility.
By early afternoon, power had been restored to all but 5,000 to 6,000 homes, primarily in Kitsap county. The company expected to restore power to most of the remaining customers by the end of the day, Carlson said.
In Oregon, Portland General Electric said 30,000 of its customers lost power at the peak of the wind storm.
PGE spokeswoman Ariana White said power was restored to all but 4,000 of those customers by 3:30 p.m., and most of the remaining customers — most of them southeast of Portland and in eastern Multnomah County — should be back online by the end of the day.
“Our crews are working fast and furious to hopefully get the majority of our customers back before nightfall,” White said, adding that some repairs may have to wait until daylight on Monday.
Back in Washington state, the Snohomish County Public Utility District said about 4,500 of its customers lost power. Outages were reported on Camano Island, in Arlington and Marysville, and scattered elsewhere in the county.
Seattle City Light said about 50 customers lost power in the south end of the city.
The winds came a day after record-setting temperatures.
The National Weather Service said Saturday’s high of 62 degrees in Seattle broke the previous record of 55 degrees set in 1950. Three days after the official start of winter, the mercury climbed to 63 degrees in Tacoma — tying a record set 22 years ago.
