Wild wind and downed power lines Wednesday night helped remind Clallam County residents that the lamb of March is still a couple of weeks away.
Last night, it was all about the lion, with Clallam County getting pounded by wind gusts in the mid-40s.
“It’s a pretty good storm,” said Jay Albrecht, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Seattle.
The storm funneled in through the Strait of Juan de Fuca, bringing with it strong winds, Albrecht said.
A 71-mph gust was recorded in the Strait south of Victoria.
A storm warning was issued for the Strait at about 7 p.m. and remained in effect at 9:30 p.m.
The rains came ahead of the storm, dumping about 2 inches in Port Townsend and Forks between 4 p.m. Tuesday and 4 p.m. Wednesday.
During the same period, Port Angeles got about a half an inch, Albrecht said.
However, snow was reported at William R. Fairchild International Airport in Port Angeles.
More snow may be on the horizon into Saturday, Albrecht said. However, it is not expected to last.
Meanwhile, several areas in Clallam County found themselves with lights on Wednesday evening.
A falling tree dragged down a power line near the corner of East Viewcrest Avenue and South Maple Street at about 8:56 p.m., leaving about 400 customers in the area of Port Angeles High School in the dark.
Winds brought down trees into power lines in three areas of the county on Wednesday night, said Dave Proebstel, chief engineer with Clallam County Public Utility District.
About 5:30 p.m., trees fell into power lines on Deer Park and O’Brien roads east of Port Angeles, cutting off power to about 500 customers in the area bordered by Deer Park, O’Brien and Township Line roads.
Public utility district crews had to replace a broken pole on O’Brien and power was not projected to be back on until about 11 p.m. Wednesday, Proebstel said.
Customers in the Diamond Point Road area on the Miller Peninsula east of Sequim lost power about 9 p.m. Wednesday.
A tree fell into a line and cut power to about 300 utility district customers.
But the trees weren’t finished.
More trees fell into lines and cut power between 5:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Wednesday to about 100 customers on the southshore of Lake Sutherland west of Port Angeles.
Proebstel said the utility district called out about 15 employees to deal with the electrical outages.
