High winds blow down tree limbs, cause collisions
High winds knocked a tree limb over on a car on Peninsula Drive in Moses Lake on Thursday. Blowing dust kicked up by the high winds also contributed to multiple accidents around the area.
Olga Melinkov/courtesy photo
MOSES LAKE — High winds Thursday afternoon broke tree limbs, sent objects flying and kicked up so much dust that limited visibility caused vehicle collisions on Interstate 90 and some county roads.
The National Weather Service forecast for Thursday afternoon included sustained winds of 20 to 25 mph and gusts up to 50 mph.
John Bryant, public information officer for the Washington State Patrol, said low visibility contributed to one collision, and possibly a second, along I-90, between Moses Lake and Ritzville.
Bryant said no one was injured in an accident along I-90 in the eastbound lanes at milepost 181, about three miles east of Moses Lake. It involved the driver of a Jeep Grand Cherokee rear-ending another car, a Ford Explorer. The driver of the Grand Cherokee was cited for driving too fast for the conditions.
The drivers of the second vehicle collision found along I-90 had abandoned it by the time troopers found it, Bryant said. It wasn’t clear if low visibility had contributed to the accident. The driver had run off the road.
Collisions and low visibility closed Wheeler Road, east of Road L Northeast, and there were reports of low visibility on Dodson Road. No information was available on any Wheeler Road collisions by press time.
The stretch of freeway between Moses Lake and Ritzville is a frequent trouble spot in high winds.
“When we get these bad dust storms out here, it’s as bad as a blizzard,” Bryant said.
But it’s almost summer, it’s a holiday weekend, and drivers don’t always pay attention to weather conditions ahead of them, he said. Drivers get distracted and don’t notice it’s bad until they’re in the middle of it.
Since blowing dust can mean low visibility, Bryant said drivers should treat dust like a snowstorm.
“When it’s bad out there, it (the conditions) should be the only thing on your mind,” he said.
Even in summer, people should check the weather forecast before they travel, and adjust their plans accordingly -- like taking into account the possibility of blowing dust, he said.
“It behooves everybody to pay attention,” he said.