Snow that dusted the North Olympic Peninsula early Monday morning — accumulating up to 2 inches in some low-lying areas — was enough to take down a tree near the entrance to the Hood Canal Bridge at about 8 a.m. Monday, cutting power to 700 homes.
The weight of wet snow was likely too much for the tree to bear as it fell into a feeder line, said Will O’Donnell, Jefferson County Public Utility District spokesperson.
“Most folks were back up within an hour and a half,” he said, adding power was fully restored by about 11:30 a.m.
“It was probably not a very healthy tree,” O’Donnell added. “It had a big load of snow, and it came down.”
He said the area where the tree fell, in the Paradise Bay-Thorndyke-Shine region, usually gets more snow than Port Townsend.
“It was definitely a surprise,” O’Donnell said of the flakes, which he said began falling in Jefferson County at about 7 a.m.
Snow won’t be revisiting Clallam and Jefferson counties any time soon, according to the National Weather Service.
But colder weather will last through the end of the week, Senior Meteorologist Justin Pullin said Monday afternoon.
Hail in some areas late Sunday night changed to snow early Monday morning, accumulating from about a half-inch to 1 inch in Sequim and Port Townsend, 1-2 inches south of U.S. Highway 101 and in the foothills, and 4 inches at Hurricane Ridge, where it was still snowing at 10:30 a.m. Monday.
“It didn’t last long,” Pullin said. “It moved through at a pretty good clip and then cleared out.”
Weather will remain dry through the rest of the week, with the next chance of rain — not snow — late Saturday.
“We will have come up by then to near-seasonal temperatures,” Pullin said.
Lows will remain in the 20s and highs in the 30s at least through Thursday, then will warm up to the low 40s.
The coldest temperatures are forecast for Wednesday.
Forks could hit 21 degrees, Port Angeles and Sequim 24 and Port Townsend 25. Seattle is forecast to drop to 20 degrees.
“The beginning of March looks like it will be slightly cooler than average,” Pullin said, adding that average is usually in the 40s.
“Typical systems will be coming through in terms of precipitation,” he said.
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 55650, or at pgottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
