Record low temps lead to power outages
Blisa Preston, 7, on the left, Jayla Fairbanks, 9, center, and Calli Preston, 12, on the right, play with snow in Sinkiuse Square late Wednesday afternoon in Moses Lake.
MOSES LAKE - Early Wednesday temperatures broke records around the Columbia Basin region as temperatures measured well below the freezing mark.
Moses Lake dipped to -19 degrees Fahrenheit at around 6 a.m.
The city broke its previous -4 degree Fahrenheit temperature, measured in 1985.
Ephrata dipped to -14 degrees Fahrenheit at around the same time.
Ephrata broke its previous -10 degree Fahrenheit temperature, also set in 1985.
Other areas in Grant County measured below freezing temperatures as well.
Soap Lake dipped to -14 degrees Fahrenheit, Warden measured -13 degrees Fahrenheit and Quincy measured -2 degrees Fahrenheit.
Freezing temperatures contributed to power outages for Moses Lake.
Grant County PUD said the four Moses Lake substations on Paxon, Cascade Valley, Moses Lake, and Larson lost power early Wednesday morning.
The Multi Agency Communications Center (MACC) in Moses Lake was affected by the outage; the emergency 9-1-1 center was operating using emergency generator power.
The outage was due to the main breakers in each substation being overloaded, stated PUD public information officer Dorothy Harris.
"The main breakers became overloaded when everyone cranked their heater on all at once. The surge of power triggered the breaker to automatically shut off," said Harris.
The breakers system is a protective mechanism set in place to shut off power once it determines the unit is becoming overloaded, she said.
PUD workers continued to restore affected PUD accounts through Wednesday afternoon, she said.
There were at least 750 homes and businesses without power in Airway Drive area of Moses Lake.
The National Weather Service predicts another snow storm coming in late Thursday night and into early Friday morning.
Snow fall is expected to continue into the weekend, as well.
"We don't know exactly how much snow will fall, but we are predicting at least another couple of inches in the Moses Lake area," said Matt Fugazzi, a forecaster for the National Weather Service in Spokane.
Temperatures will continue to remain low to freezing into early next week, he said.