UPDATE: Wednesday’s windstorm caused at least one fatality in Snohomish County

Published 10:35 am Thursday, March 12, 2026

EVERETT — A windstorm caused at least one fatality in Snohomish County when a tree fell on a vehicle, killing one person in Monroe.

Around 8:21 p.m. Wednesday, fire crews responded to reports of a large tree that fell onto a vehicle in the 23200 block of Florence Acres Road, according to a Snohomish Regional Fire & Rescue social media post.

The tree snapped at the base around 20 feet up and fell on a passing vehicle, according to Snohomish Regional Fire & Rescue spokesperson Kaitlin King. Upon arrival, crews found multiple power lines down on the vehicle.

The victim was deceased when crews arrived, King said.

The victim was a 24-year-old woman, according to a Snohomish County Medical Examiner’s Office spokesperson.

The windy weather with gusts predicted up to 50 miles per hour in places led to a series of power outages and downed trees across the county.

Weather conditions matched what forecasters expected with peak winds reaching 52 miles per hour in the area around Paine Field, according to Harrison Rademacher, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

Forecasters expect the cold front to continue through the weekend and next week with precipitation at times, Rademacher said. The morning hours might yield some snow mixed in with rain in areas like Everett, but it is expected to melt on contact. Next week, highs are expected to be in the 50s with rain.

“It will be pretty wet overall,” Rademacher said.

As of 11:30 a.m. Thursday, 1,063 individuals are experiencing power outages, according to the Snohomish County Public Utilities District’s outage map.

“We’re working hard to restore everyone’s power as quickly as possible,” said Snohomish PUD spokesperson Erica Keene in an interview Thursday.

PUD is hoping to have power restored by Friday, Keene said.

At the height of the outages at 9 p.m. Wednesday, 15,000 were without power, Keene said. The areas hit the hardest were Everett, Mill Creek, Lynnwood and Monroe.

In an Everett neighborhood, high winds knocked over a portion of a large tree, affecting two houses and two cars parked in one of the driveways, Fox 13 Seattle reported.

In Marysville, the windy weather caused power outages in the south end of the city on Wednesday night, with winds contributing to downed power lines and traffic lights not working, according to a Marysville Police Department social media post.

South County Fire reminded individuals to be safe as winds picked up Wednesday evening, following a rescue of a kite surfer in distress in Edmonds.

Just before 5 p.m. Wednesday, fire crews responded to a report of a person waving for help in the water off Marina Beach, according to a South County Fire social media post. The 911 caller estimated the individual was 50 to 100 yards offshore at different points.

South County Fire’s rescue boat, Marine 16, located the kite surfer, approximately in his 30s to 40s, the post said. The man had swum and paddled to the jetty near Marina Beach. From there, he was able to swim to board Marine 16.

The man was not injured, the post said. Upon returning to shore, firefighters gave him a ride to his car.

Jenna Millikan: 425-339-3035; jenna.millikan@heraldnet.com. X: @JennaMillikan