Wind wreaks havoc across Western Washington, tens of thousands without power

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Near 50,000 customers were without power Saturday afternoon, as a late winter storm blew through Western Washington.

At about 3:30 p.m., 9,537 customers in Snohomish County, 4,050 customers in Pierce County, and 30,328 customers in King County were powerless.

The majority of the outages were marked as “under investigation” by Puget Sound Energy, however, Snohomish County PUD marked Canyon Park and North Snohomish outages as storm-related damage.

By 6:15 p.m, the total outages had dropped to just over 29,000 customers.

According to the National Weather Service, thunderstorms were making their way northeast through Seattle and Tacoma, bringing small hail, lightning, and gusty winds.

A Wind Advisory will be in effect until 8 a.m. Sunday, as southwest winds with gusts up to 55 mph may occur in San Juan County, Western Whatcom County, Western Skagit County, and the Admiralty Inlet Area.

According to the National Weather Service, winds will decrease Saturday evening, before picking up again late Saturday night, with the strongest winds late Saturday and early Sunday.

On Saturday afternoon, a large tree fell across 3rd Avenue North at Northwest 95th Street, blocking all lanes of traffic. There were no reports of any injuries.