Heavy snowfall punishes Northwest US – Telemundo El Paso (48)

SEATTLE — Winter weather brought high winds and snowfall to parts of the northwestern United States, leading to power outages in some areas and new snowfall on the Cascade Mountain Range.

Thousands of homes were without power Saturday morning in the Seattle metropolitan area after a night of rain and wind, the Seattle Times reported.

Seattle City Light reported 17 outages affecting more than 1,700 customers by late morning, about two-thirds of them in South Seattle. The utility company announced that it was investigating the cause.

According to the Seattle Times, there were smaller outages, some caused by fallen trees, in other Seattle neighborhoods.

Communities across the region have been affected. Puget Sound Energy reported 79 outages affecting more than 4,700 customers at approximately 11:30 a.m. Media reported that the power outage extended from Kitsap County to south of the state capital, Olympia.

In Oregon, more than 2,000 customers were without power in the Portland area, according to outage maps from Portland General Electric and Pacific Power.

The power outage occurred as strong winds gusted through the area, reaching 52 miles at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, according to the National Weather Service office in Seattle.

Strong winds prompted officials at Olympic National Park on the Olympia Peninsula, west of Seattle, to close several coastal campgrounds. He warned that wind storms could cause life-threatening waves on the coast, topple trees and block roads.

The storms also dumped snow on the waterfalls. As of Friday afternoon, Paradise in Mount Rainier National Park had received 14 inches of snow in 24 hours, according to preliminary reports from the National Weather Service.

In the Oregon Cascades, Mount Bachelor Ski Resort near Bend celebrated its grand opening Saturday after nearly a foot of snow fell in the past 24 hours.

Timberline at Mount Hood reported similar snowfall during the same period and had hoped to open its lifts but had to postpone them until Sunday due to high winds, the resort said in an Instagram post. Mount Bachelor noted that it was also experiencing strong winds.

Authorities in Washington and Oregon warned drivers to be careful when driving in windy and snowy conditions, use tire chains if necessary, and carry supplies in their cars, such as water and blankets, in case of traffic delays.