A fallen tree caused a power outage on the West End of Clallam County and blocked both lanes of U.S. Highway 101 near Lake Crescent on Wednesday night.
At the same time, the state Department of Transportation said that rainy weather has slowed work to repair a section of state Highway 112 at Pillar Point Road that washed out at the end of last month.
Clallam County Public Utility District officials said that Wednesday’s outage affected the corridor from Sappho to the west side of Lake Crescent at about 6:30 p.m.
Utility crews had restored power to the 75 affected customers by 2 a.m., PUD spokesman Michael Howe said.
Transportation reported that a downed tree had blocked both directions of Highway 101 near Lake Crescent at 6:25 p.m.
Howe said the tree that caused the power outage was likely the same tree that blocked the roadway.
The tree fell at Milepost 228 near Barnes Creek.
Transportation crews had reopened both directions of the highway by 7:35 p.m., spokeswoman Kelly Stowe said.
The National Weather Service said 2.4 inches of rain fell in Forks in a 24-hour period ending Thursday morning.
Nearly a half-inch of rain fell in Port Angeles during the same period. Sequim had 0.4 inches of rain and Port Townsend had less than a tenth of an inch.
It gusted to 39 mph in Forks Wednesday evening. Port Angeles had a 31 mph gust early Thursday.
Port Townsend saw a 30 mph gust Wednesday evening.
No significant winds were reported in Sequim.
Transportation officials said the weather has hindered progress on repairs to state Highway 112 at Pillar Point Road near Pysht.
The road in the area has been restricted to one-way, alternating traffic since a washout in the westbound lane was discovered Dec. 28, Stowe said.
Stowe said crews hope to take advantage of favorable weather forecasts next week to repair the road.
In the meantime, drivers are advised to come to a full stop and wait for any oncoming traffic before traveling cautiously through the area, Stowe said.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
