The North Olympic Peninsula was largely calm on Saturday after a winter-like storm that swept through on Good Friday knocked down trees, cut power to 1,840 customers and closed state Highway 19 south of Port Townsend for five hours.
Road and electrical crews were left without much to do after being kept busy the day before addressing power outages, clearing snow and removing trees from roadways.
All outages on the Peninsula — 1,560 in Clallam County and 280 in Jefferson County — were fixed by Saturday morning, said Clallam County Public Utility District and Puget Sound Energy spokespeople.
“After yesterday, it’s really good,” Paul Walters, Jefferson County road operations manager, said Saturday.
“We’re not plowing snow or anything like we were yesterday.”
Said Clallam County Engineer Ross Tyler: “Nothing evolved last night at all. I don’t know what happened to [the storm].”
On Friday morning, traces of snow fell in the lowlands of eastern Jefferson County, and about four inches fell in the Clallam County foothills.
Up to six inches of snow were reported in the Jefferson County foothills.
State Highway 19 was blocked in both directions from 1:15 p.m. to 6:40 p.m. Friday after a tree fell across it near the intersection with Four Corners Road.
Port Townsend resident Gregory Leblanc slammed on his brakes as he saw the tree fall, but still skidded into the old maple tree and several laurel bushes as high wind knocked them down.
The crash smashed the front end of Leblanc’s 1986 Volvo station wagon but he was unhurt.
“I was in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Leblanc said.
The State Patrol and East Jefferson Fire-Rescue detoured heavy traffic to Center Valley Road and Oak Bay Road until the highway was cleared.
Hurricane Ridge Road
Hurricane Ridge Road closed Friday because of heavy snowfall. New snow totals had not been recorded as of Saturday.
Olympic National Park spokeswoman Barb Maynes said the road may reopen today.
Park road crews, she said, are focused on clearing Sol Duc Hot Springs Road of snow and preparing campgrounds for the spring openings.
Maynes said Sol Duc Hot Springs Road is more of a priority than Hurricane Ridge Road because the Sol Duc resort is now open, while the ski season at Hurricane Ridge has ended.
No significant storm damage was reported in the park, she said.
On Friday, a 78 mph gust was reported on Destruction Island in West Jefferson County before the low pressure center moved into Vancouver Island and shifted the winds from the east to the west.
The National Weather Service reported peak gusts of 54 mph in Forks and 29 mph in Port Angeles on Friday.
Tatoosh Island on the northwest tip of Clallam County reported 41 mph winds and a 47 mph gust, said Ted Buehner, National Weather Service meteorologist.
Hood Canal Bridge, which the state Department of Transportation warned might have to be closed on Friday, was never closed.
Clallam PUD crews restored power to most of the 1,560 customers who lost it on Friday, with the remainder back on the grid Saturday.
The outages were caused by wind blowing trees and limbs into overhead power lines, Clallam County PUD chief engineer David Proebstel said.
East of Sequim, 676 customers lost power in the Diamond Point area at about noon Friday.
On the West End of Clallam County, 492 customers lost power in the LaPush area at 1:03 p.m.
Power went off in Forks for 120 customers along Bogachiel Way at 1:12 p.m.
Another 272 customers lost power south of Forks six minutes later.
In Jefferson County, 280 homes lost power, said PSE spokeswoman Rebecca Anderson.
Heavy winds and intermittent heavy rain pelted East Jefferson County in the afternoon and evening.
Ferry runs canceled
Heavy winds and high seas also canceled all of the Port Townsend-Keystone Steilacoom II ferry runs Friday afternoon and evening.
PSE sent tree cutting and service crews to Jefferson County on Thursday in anticipation of a Hood Canal Bridge closure because of high wind, which didn’t happen.
State Department of Transportation crews reopened U.S. Highway 101 at milepost 166 at Lower Hoh Road at 4:30 p.m. on Friday. It had been blocked for more than two hours because of two downed trees.
Tyler said reports of fallen trees were coming in steadily on Friday — mostly on the east end of the county.
“Not massive amounts, but enough to keep a couple crew members pretty steadily busy,” Tyler said late Friday.
There were no reports of damage or power outages in Port Angeles area on Friday.
Tyler said the 50 mph winds in Forks would be expected to take down some trees.
“But that’s not too bad for the West End,” he added.
Tyler said most of Friday’s storm damage happened on the east side of the county, like Diamond Point and Palo Alto Road.
“I think the Diamond Point area was the worst,” Tyler said.
Crews told Tyler that the winds had calmed down on Friday afternoon as the winds shifted.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
