A windstorm roared through the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the North Olympic Peninsula late Wednesday and early Thursday, leading to some roads being blocked by fallen trees and sporadic outages in East Jefferson County.
Trees fell in Discovery Bay, blocking South Discovery Road and Goss Road, and several small power outages left residents in Port Hadlock, Port Townsend, Marrowstone Island and Cape George in the dark, said Donna Stamper, JeffCom 9-1-1 Communications dispatch supervisor.
A weather station at the Jefferson County Courthouse measured gusts of 46 mph overnight.
Damage was limited to the north end of East Jefferson County, Stamper said.
“It was such a small area,” she said.
In Clallam County, the storm ripped small branches from trees and interrupted residents’ sleep, but no real damage and no power outages were reported, said Penny Linterman, a Clallam County emergency management program coordinator.
In Port Angeles, wind speed began to rise after 2 a.m., and gusts hit 36 mph at 3:43 p.m., according to the National Weather Service.
Small tree branches littered Monroe Road, and a banner that crossed East Front Street near North Liberty Street partially collapsed, hanging low into the left lane.
Wind gusts reached 37 mph in Forks at about 9 p.m. Wednesday, and at Neah Bay, where gusts reached nearly 60 mph earlier this week, winds peaked at a relatively sedate 47 mph at 2 a.m. Thursday.
The winds continued through the day but were expected to die down overnight for a one-day break in the weather that was forecast by the National Weather Service.
LaPush jetty holding
Repairs to the South Jetty at LaPush continued to hold early Thursday, Linterman said.
The south jetty at LaPush lost about a third of the material that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had put down in Monday’s heavy seas and high tide.
Crews continue to watch the jetty, Linterman said.
Rain is expected to return to the Peninsula on Saturday, but without the accompanying winds.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at arwyn.rice@peninsuladailynews.com.
