Thousands lose power after lightning strikes in Western Washington
TACOMA, Wash. - More than 15,000 people were without power Wednesday morning after thunderstorms rolled through Western Washington.
Tacoma Public Utilities said up to 13,000 customers were without power at the peak of the outages. Power was restored to most customers by 12:45 p.m.. Check for updates here.
Puget Sound Energy reported up to nearly 7,000 people without power, mainly in the Vashon area. Power had been restored to nearly all customers by 11:30 a.m.
FOX 13 meteorologists were tracking lightning and thunder from the Washington coast inland to the Puget Sound area.
Highs today will be noticeably cooler, only reaching the mid 70s. Partly to mostly cloudy skies are on tap with a continued risk of thunderstorms through Wednesday afternoon/evening.
With the lightning comes the risk for new fires burning. Because of this, the National Weather Service has issued several Red Flag Warnings. For the Olympic Peninsula, the alert is posted until 11 tonight. For the Cascade slopes under 1,500' in Western Washington, this warning is ongoing until 2 a.m. Thursday. The northeastern slopes of the Cascades have this alert going from 2 this afternoon until noon Thursday.
FULL FORECAST:
Cooler temps for Puget Sound, lightning threat across Washington
We're forecasting noticeably cooler temperatures across the Puget Sound lowlands today. The lightning threat is also spiking, and unfortunately this is elevating fire danger (especially in Eastern Washington).
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WEATHER RESOURCES:
- Check the latest weather alerts
- Check live radar here
- Check live traffic map here
- Get the FOX 13 Seattle Weather App here
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.