Strong winds gusting up to 91 mph blew across much of the North Olympic Peninsula on Monday, forcing closure of the Hood Canal Bridge and continuing a monthlong spate of weather-caused power outages.
The gusts calmed down by 8 p.m. as utility crews worked to turn the lights back on, particularly on the West End and in East Jefferson County.
Strong winds in mid-November followed by the biggest snowstorm in a decade had already challenged the crews before Monday’s visit of warm area from the central Pacific brought the winds over the east and west sides of the Peninsula.
Hood Canal Bridge was closed for about five hourse by 70 mph crosswinds, from early afternoon into early evening.
Before dusk, a traffic camera showed wind waves breaking against the floating bridge, flinging spray across the span.
The bridge was reopened to traffic at 7:30 p.m. as crosswinds diminished to less than 30 mph.
Electrical power was out in many parts of Clallam County.
By 5 p.m., the Clallam County Public Utility District reported outages to about 1,000 of its 28,500 customers.
The West End caught the worst of Clallam’s weather, with a transmission line between Sekiu and Neah Bay knocked out of service by a fallen tree.
PUD dispatcher Quimby Moon said it could be as late as noon today before service there can be restored.
Blown-down trees also snarled lines south of Forks, where repairs were expected by midnight, and in LaPush, where damage – and power restoration – was undetermined.
In Neah Bay, where lights went dark at about 1 p.m., Makah dispatcher Annette Jimmicum said the coast also was under a high surf advisory due to 25-foot swells.
In the Olympics, the National Weather Service issued an avalanche warning through Monday evening, plus a winter weather advisory.
Snows totaling 8 inches to 14 inches was expected over the mountains by this morning with the snow level forecast at around 4,000 feet.
Gale warnings were posted in the central Strait of Juan de Fuca, with storm warnings in effect on the Pacific coast, the Strait and Admiralty Inlet into today.
On U.S. Highway 101 near Dosewallips, a jackknifed semi that spilled diesel fuel and downed power lines closed the road for about four hours.
U.S. 101 was reopened to one lane of alternating traffic by 8 p.m., the state Department of Transportation reported.
If closing the Hood Canal Bridge at 2:45 p.m. wasn’t enough, state Highway 104 leading to the floating span was closed at dusk when winds downed power lines at Southpoint Road about three miles west, said Lisa Murdock, communications manager for Transportation’s Olympic Region.
Puget Sound Energy crews fixed the power lines and the road was reopened about the same time as the bridge was.
Like the West End, power outages were scattered across East Jefferson County.
PSE spokesman Dennis Smedsrud said the high winds knocked out power to about 1,000 Port Ludlow homes.
Other areas south of Port Townsend also lost power, including the Jacob Miller Road area, but Smedsrud couldn’t say how many customers were dark.
“At this stage we’re still doing damage assessment,” Smedsrud said Monday evening.
“We don’t have any projection” when the outages will be restored, he said.
Winds reached speeds of 60 mph and sustained speeds of 40 mph in the Port Townsend area Monday afternoon, said Mike McFarland, a Seattle-based meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
He said another windstorm can be expected Thursday evening that might be stronger than Monday’s.
