The lightning show has finished on the North Olympic Peninsula, the National Weather Service said Saturday.
Five slow-moving thunderstorms shook the North Olympic Peninsula from Port Townsend to Lake Crescent beginning late Thursday night and continued through Friday the 13th evening, causing power outages for some and a sleepless night for many.
Most of the thunderstorm activity Friday night occurred north of the Peninsula.
“There may have been a few strikes east of Port Angeles around midnight there, but not a whole lot after that,” said Dennis D’Amico, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Seattle.
The localized lightning strikes occurred in the foothills south of Sequim.
“Most of the activity was during the day Friday,” D’Amico said.
“We haven’t seen super impressive precipitation amounts,” he added.
“I don’t hear any reports of flooding.”
The chance of thunderstorms was forecast to diminish Saturday night “as the low to our south that was causing this pulls away to our east,” D’Amico said.
Today’s forecast calls for cloudy skies and cooler temperatures — in other words, more typical weather — with highs in the low- to mid-60s.
D’Amico said the thunder and lightning got the attention of people who aren’t used to it.
“People have been pretty excited,” he said.
“Luckily, there haven’t been any lightning fatalities. That’s always a good thing.”
Clallam County Public Utility District spokesman Mike Howe said there were no lightning-related power outages or damage Friday night.
“Luckily, [it was] pretty quiet,” he said.
A series of thunderstorms moved west near Port Townsend at about 10:30 a.m. Friday, said Doug McDonnal, National Weather Service forecaster in Seattle.
Lightning struck and split a tree in Chimacum near the Chimacum substation, said Jim Parker of the Jefferson County Public Utility District.
That occurred sometime early Friday morning.
Puget Sound Energy, which provides power to East Jefferson County residents, did not report any power outages.
A low-pressure system stalled in southern Washington, sending storms through the northwestern part of the state, McDonnal said.
“It’s fairly rare, but we get this several days each year,” McDonnal said.
“This is certainly not an area where thunderstorms are common.”
The stronger storm cells, which produced lightning and heavy rains, arrived in the Port Townsend, Sequim and Port Angeles areas at about 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. Friday.
About 2,000 Clallam County PUD customers east of Port Angeles lost electrical power when lines near the Monroe Road substation were hit by lightning at about 6 a.m., Howe said.
Power was partially restored by 10:30 a.m., will full restoration shortly after 11 a.m.
In Port Angeles, the Washington Street substation went offline at 3:50 a.m. Friday, cutting electrical power to 900 customers, said Teresa Pierce, city spokeswoman, who didn’t know the cause Friday.
Power was restored a little after 5 a.m., she said, adding that she did not know of any other outages.
Also in Port Angeles, lightning is suspected in an early morning house fire, said Port Angeles Sgt. Barbara McFall.
The cause of the 5:30 a.m. fire at 704 South Elizabeth Place off Golf Course Road remained under investigation this weekend.
The fire seemed to be centralized in the attic area of the home, Pierce said.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5072, or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arwyn.rice@peninsuladailynews.com.
