Wind knocks out power around Tri-Cities. Plus, what the next storm is bringing
Fierce winds knocked out power to thousands of homes and businesses in the Tri-Cities on Monday night as a cold front blew across the Mid-Columbia.
It also contributed to a car crash and some downed trees.
Winds died down a bit on Tuesday morning, but another storm system is forecast to roll through the Tri-Cities.
The National Weather Service forecast calls for a chance of snow and overnight lows that fall into the teens this week.
The windstorm that started the week brought sustained wind speeds of 49 mph between 8 and 9 p.m. Monday, showed readings from the Tri-Cities Airport in Pasco.
The highest gust was 66 mph.
A Hanford weather station about halfway up Rattlesnake Mountain recorded wind speeds of 53 mph, with a gust of 79 mph early Tuesday morning.
Hanford nuclear reservation site workers were told to report late to work Tuesday morning due to downed power poles. Some buildings were without power.
Shift start times were staggered at 9 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. to limit traffic congestion.
Benton PUD crews worked through the night to restore electricity to customers in the Tri-Cities.
The public utility district reported its first outage about 8:30 p.m. Monday with about 1,000 homes and businesses without power in west Kennewick, south of West Clearwater Avenue between North Edison Street and South Union Street.
Scattered outages would follow, due to downed equipment serving three substations. After 10 p.m. the PUD was reporting 14,000 customers without power in eastern parts of Kennewick.
Crews worked to reroute power and had many customers back on line before midnight.
Franklin PUD reported about 1,800 customers without power in its downtown area shortly before 11 p.m. Monday, but it was able to quickly restore power.
But shortly after 3 a.m., 600 customers lost power in the Road 90, Road 100 and Court Street area.
In Richland, power outages were caused by three downed trees, but fewer homes and businesses were without electricity. City staff described the outages as affecting “dozens” of residents, with power restored within about an hour.
The Benton County Sheriff’s Office reported early Tuesday that dirt and dust blowing across Kennedy Road limited visibility and contributed to a car going off the road.
In Franklin County, Road 44 south of Wernett Road was blocked by a fallen tree at midnight, according to the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department.
The air monitor in Burbank showed air quality rated as “very unhealthy” periodically from 5 p.m. Monday until the blowing dust reached its worst with a rating of “hazardous” at midnight.
Air quality gradually improved to “good” at 6 a.m. Tuesday.
At Columbia Park Golf Tri Plex in Kennewick, a couple trees were down and branches were ripped off, plus benches and garbage cans had been overturned.
Tri-Cities forecast
A 40% chance of snow is forecast for the Tri-Cities on Wednesday, with snow possible from 1 a.m. to 10 a.m.
The rest of the week should be dry, with a slight chance of snow Saturday night into Sunday, according to the weather service.
A new cold front will drop temperatures with overnight lows in the teens Wednesday, Thursday and Friday nights, according to the weather service.
The coldest night should be Thursday, with a low temperature of 14 degrees.
On Thursday, the high temperature is not expected to reach freezing. A high of 29 is forecast Thursday, with temperatures warning to 32 on Friday and then 47 by Sunday.
