Snohomish County crews clean up from bomb cyclone as more wind to come

EVERETT — As Snohomish County residents climb out from Tuesday’s bomb cyclone, more wind and rain are expected Thursday night.

Thankfully, according to the National Weather Service, it won’t be near as destructive as Tuesday’s memorable storm.

At the most, it’s expected to hamper cleanup efforts from the storm that roared into Western Washington on Tuesday evening, uprooting trees, damaging homes and knocking out power to 135,000 Snohomish County and Camano Island residents at its peak.

As of 3:55 p.m. Thursday, nearly 20,000 customers of the Snohomish County Public Utility District remained without power.

PUD crews, augmented by mutual aid, worked through Wednesday night to restore power, according to a message on its outage map.

“Outages are scattered throughout the service territory,” the message said, “and the damage we’re finding is often significant and requires complex repairs.”

On Thursday morning, five crews were focused in Lake Stevens, with other crews scattered throughout storm-damaged areas of Snohomish County.

Crews were set to start days of work clearing large trees blocking miles of road in the Lake Roesiger, Lake Bosworth, Three Lakes and Chain Lake areas. The trees are blocking crews from making repairs.

Damage from the storm included an estimated 120-year-old elm tree slamming into a historic home in Snohomish. The towering tree uprooted during the storm and collapsed onto the two-story house, built in the 1890s. Neighbors and passersby gathered Wednesday to view the tree’s rootball resting on the street and much of the tree leaning against the house. The owner, who wished not to be named for privacy reasons, joked he woke up in the middle of the night with his wife on one side of him and the tree on the other.

Thursday’s system, expected to produce 45 mph easterly gusts in the Cascade foothills, could produce similar smaller gusts in Lake Stevens, Cook said. The system will include low to moderate rain that should peak by Friday morning’s commute.

“Winds aren’t expected to be as strong as Tuesday evening’s but conditions could make clean up efforts more complicated for already wind-beaten areas,” the weather service said.

Even so, the weather service advised residents to secure loose items on their property and be prepared for possible additional outages.

The bomb cyclone forced many schools in Snohomish County to close or delay classes. In the Snohomish School District, Cascade View Elementary, Central Emerson Elementary, Dutch Hill Elementary, Machias Elementary, Riverview Elementary, Centennial Middle School, Snohomish High School and the Parkway Campus were closed Thursday.

In Lake Stevens, most schools reopened Thursday, with the exception of Cavelero and Sunnycrest. Lynnwood High School also remained closed due to a power outage.

Michael Henneke: 425-339-3431; michael.henneke@heraldnet.com; X: @ihenpecked.

Eliza Aronson: 425-339-3434; eliza.aronson@heraldnet.com; X: @ElizaAronson. Eliza’s stories are supported by the Herald’s Environmental and Climate Reporting Fund.