Wind whips through Cascade foothills, toppling trees, cutting power

SNOQUALMIE, Wash. — Gusty winds made their way through parts of Western Washington, causing trees to tremble and fall, objects to fly around, and lights to go dark.

A Wind Advisory was in effect for the East Puget Sound lowlands until early Wednesday afternoon.

It included such cities as Bonney Lake, Covington, Enumclaw, Maple Valley, Monroe, North Bend, Prairie Ridge, and Woodinville.

“Cascadia gap winds” had the most impact on North Bend and Enumclaw, with sustained speeds of 25 to 35 mph with gusts as high as 55 mph.

The high winds brought down trees on roads.

Just before 1 a.m., the Washington State Department of Transportation reported that fallen trees blocked all lanes of State Route 18 at Interstate 90.

In addition, West Lake Sammamish Parkway was closed in both directions Wednesday morning after a tree fell on power lines, according to the Bellevue Transportation Department.

The wind blew around unsecured objects and caused power outages.

Our reporter Kevin Ko was in Snoqualmie early Wednesday, where strong winds knocked down large umbrellas, chairs, and potted plants outside a business, and even ripped off his hat as he was reporting live.

Many in Redmond also dealt with outages. Drivers who found that traffic lights weren’t working had to proceed with caution.

At the height of the winds, about 3,400 Puget Sound Energy customers were without power. At one point, about 1,800 of those customers were in Redmond.

Most of the outages were caused by trees and branches on power lines.

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