Hundreds without power as Tuesday winds hammer Whatcom County
Nearly 3,000 Puget Sound Energy customers were without power at 11 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 17, as powerful winds hammered Whatcom County, part of a storm that prompted a high wind warning from the National Weather Service.
Outages were mostly in the north county, from north of Custer to Lynden and the Everson-Nooksack area, according to PSE’s online outage map.
Several trees had fallen across roads and power lines, according to emergency radio dispatches.
A gust at Sandy Point approached hurricane force.
PSE spokesman Andrew Padula said crews had been moved into place because of the potential for widespread power outages.
“We do do a lot of preparation,” Padula told The Bellingham Herald in a voicemail. “So we are staffed in our offices and our base personnel are ready as well.”
At Bellingham International Airport, winds were blowing from the south at 26 mph at 10 a.m., gusting to 52 mph.
Whitecaps rolled across Bellingham Bay, trees swayed wildly and some pedestrians struggled to keep their balance.
According to emergency broadcasts at the time, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection helicopter could not launch to aid Bellingham and Western Washington University police as they searched for a robbery suspect Tuesday morning in the Happy Valley neighborhood due to the high winds.
Meteorologist Courtney Carpenter in Seattle said the winds were part of a warm front tracking from the south-southwest toward Vancouver Island, followed by cold air and rain.
Temperatures were 60 degrees at 11 a.m.
“It’s the strongest storm of the season,” Carpenter told The Herald. “As the cold front moves through, we’re seeing strong bursts of gusty winds.”
Gusts of 67 mph were recorded at an unofficial weather site in Sandy Point and 57 mph in Ferndale.
Carpenter said the winds would ease by mid-afternoon, but breezy conditions would linger through Tuesday night.
Both the National Weather Service and Environment Canada issued gale warnings for the Puget Sound region and the southern Georgia Strait, including Point Roberts, Blaine and Birch Bay, for Tuesday and Wednesday.
Coastal areas of Whatcom County may see tidal effects combined wind and seasonal high tides Tuesday and Wednesday, said John Gargett, deputy director of the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office Division of Emergency Management.
Wednesday will be rainy and breezy with a high near 50.
This story was originally published November 17, 2020 at 12:34 PM.
