Powerful wind storm hammers Kitsap, Western Washington

Schools are delayed and some closed in Kitsap County, roads remained blocked by trees and power outages continue across the region Wednesday after a powerful wind storm arrived Tuesday night.

Bainbridge Island School District called off all classes for Wednesday due to power outages on the island, and Central Kitsap School District, North Kitsap School District and Olympic College’s Bremerton campus are opening two hours late, the districts reported early Wednesday. In addition, Gordon Elementary in North Kitsap is closed for the day due to a power outage and OC’s Poulsbo campus will open at 3 p.m.

Puget Sound Energy said that nearly 475,000 customers across Western Washington did not have power as of 1 a.m. Wednesday, and expects some outages to last days due to downed trees and other complications from the storm that knocked out power. That includes thousands in Kitsap County, according to PSE, the majority of which are on Bainbridge, North Kitsap and the Illahee and Brownsville areas of Central Kitsap.

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According to the National Weather Service the high wind gusts hammered locations in the Cascades and foothills and in northern Puget Sound, hitting peaks like 61 mph in Port Townsend, 63 mpg on Camano Island and more than 70 mph in Enumclaw or at Mount Rainier. A wind gust of 55 mph was measured at Sea-Tac Airport as well.

Showers are anticipated to remain in the region through Wednesday and the rest of the week, but the National Weather Service forecast did not call for high wind to continue.

Washington State Ferries alerted its passengers early Wednesday morning they should expect bumpy rides due to choppy waters and possible service disruptions as the inclement weather continues throughout the morning. Meanwhile, Kitsap Transit cancelled two of its early morning fast ferry sailing routes from Kingston and Seattle. Kitsap Transit alerted its riders Tuesday evening that the high winds could affect its sailings as well.

Kitsap County announced at least 12 road closures due to trees or power lines over streets. The list, which can be found at the Kitsap County Road Report website, included mainly roads in North Kitsap, though one closure off Sedgwick in South Kitsap was noted as well. Roads where wires are blocking traffic must wait for PSE crews to respond before they can reopen.

By late morning Kitsap County Public Works announced that Hansville Road, Nels Nelson Road in Central Kitsap, and Clover Valley Road and SE Inwood Lane in South Kitsap had all been cleared by county crews.

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