High winds forecast for outlying areas Monday threaten to worsen a rash of small, scattered power outages that struck parts of the Puget Sound region Sunday. The wind problem loomed as an accompaniment to the rain problem, which came on the heels of the weekend snow problem. The weight of rain-soaked snow snapped tree branches, sending them crashing onto power lines, mainly in parts of Kitsap County. The wind could bring down more trees overnight and Monday.
The National Weather Service is warning of more bad weather ahead, after snow fell across much of Washington on Sunday, including Western Washington lowlands. With rising temperatures, it began turning to heavy rain west of the Cascades on Sunday, which is forecast to continue Monday, leading to the possibility of flooding.
The National Weather Service issued a flood watch for Sunday night through Wednesday for most of Western Washington from the Canadian border down through Lewis County. It said heavy rain Sunday night and Monday would "cause rivers to rise dramatically."
The Weather Service also issued a high wind warning, in effect through 4 p.m. Monday for the Everett area, the Kitsap Peninsula, the lower Chehalis Valley and coastal areas. The service said overnight winds were expected to reach 30 to 40 mph in inland areas, with gusts of up to 60 mph.
On the other hand, spokesmen for Seattle-area public agencies that geared up for the weekend storms said the worst appeared past, snow-induced traffic tangles on mountain passes had eased, emergency crews were well-prepared and no major power outages had occurred, at least not by Sunday night.
Dorothy Bracken, spokeswoman for Puget Sound Energy, said rain-soaked snow that accumulated on tree branches caused numerous, small power outages in scattered parts of Kitsap County, many of them in North Kitsap and at least one on Bainbridge Island.
"At one time, we had 15 different locations of power outages" around midday Sunday, she said. As late-afternoon winds picked up, outages occurred in Thurston County. But no area was without power for long, Bracken said.
Seattle City Light reported only one small, short-lived power outage, at an apartment complex in the Shoreline area.
The storm that swept through the region in mid-October was a blessing in some ways, said Scott Thomsen, a Seattle City Light spokesman.
When that storm struck, "all the leaves were still on the trees, so we had a sail effect" that blew branches onto power lines, he said. "It took out a good chunk of the leaves, and it took out some of the trees that were still standing from the (December 2006) storm and took out some branches." So there's less stuff remaining to knock down power lines now.
Thomsen said City Light has two repair crews on duty, with more available if needed. With a Seattle-area forecast of sustained winds of nearly 40 mph, and occasional gusts of nearly 60 mph, "that's a fairly typical winter storm for the Seattle area" and one that shouldn't cause major problems for the utility, he said.
Although weekend snowfall was generally light in Western Washington lowlands, the weather service predicted up to a foot of new snow along the east slopes of the Cascades and two feet or more in the mountains late Sunday.
The wintry weather took its toll on the mountain passes. Chains were required much of the day Sunday on Snoqualmie Pass.
The department was using 21 trucks to plow and deice Interstate 90.
Trooper Jeff Merrill, a spokesman for the Washington State Patrol in King County, said that dozens of collisions occurred Saturday and Sunday on I-90 between Seattle and Snoqualmie Pass. About 60 percent happened on the stretch between the outskirts of Issaquah and the pass. None caused serious damage or injuries.
"It was just a whiteout at the pass," Merrill said. "I haven't seen it snow that hard on the pass for a long time."
With rain Sunday washing away most of the snow, "the bulk of our calls are mainly about standing water," he said. "We are trying to ensure that all the storm drains are flowing and we don't have any puddles that motorists are likely to encounter in some dip of the roadway."
Seattle officials were prepared to respond to any reports of urban flooding.
New flood-detection equipment is online in Madison Valley, where residents were washed out of their homes during a deluge last winter and a million-gallon detention pond is hooked up. If the storm-drain system in the neighborhood is overwhelmed, the excess water is expected to flow into the pond.
On Saturday, thick, heavy flakes of snow began to shower the downtown Seattle area in some parts shortly before 1 p.m., leaving roads wet and prompting children bundled in thick winter clothing to try to catch a snowflake on their tongues.
Seattle resident Piper Walker, 35, and her son, Moses, took advantage of the flakes Saturday afternoon in the Central District. "I can't run," she said, referring to the slushy sidewalk. "But we like the snow. We don't mind being stuck in the house."
P-I reporters Neil Modie, Brad Wong and Hector Castro contributed to this report.
