High winds raise dust, cause prep
A U.S. flag above Peninsula Elementary School flutters in gusts of over 40 miles per hour on Monday as a cold front moving over Eastern Washington brought powerful winds to the area. Area power management officials said they were prepared in the event of a power outage caused by the high winds.
CHARLES H. FEATHERSTONE/COLUMBIA BASIN HERALD
COLUMBIA BASIN — The powerful gusts tearing across the Columbia Basin this week are the result of a cold front moving through Washington State, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Miranda Cote.
“There’s a strong system pushing into the area and a cold front pushing through,” Cote said.
Cote said Monday saw wind gusts of nearly 50 miles per hour in Moses Lake, with winds subsiding by midnight to around 20-25 mph and to 10-20 mph on Tuesday.
The arrival of the cold front, pushed by what Cote called a strong jet stream, dropped a small amount of rain in Grant County, about 1/100th of an inch in Ephrata, 3/100th of an inch in Moses Lake and about 1/10th of an inch further to the east in Odessa.
Cote said, however, gusts of up to 35 mph could be on hand Tuesday and the worst of the winds would be felt near Waterville in Douglas County and Vantage along the Columbia River, where gusts up to 50 mph were possible. The wind was also kicking up a lot of dust just south-east of Ephrata and blowing it toward Moses Lake, Cote added.
The Washington. Department of Ecology’s air quality monitoring network (https://enviwa.ecology.wa.gov/home/map) reported air quality over Moses Lake on Monday was “good,” though measurements of particulate matter in the air increased significantly between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. that day
The wind has prompted both the Grant County Public Utility District and Avista Energy, which provides power to customers in Adams County, to issue warnings to customers in the event the high winds result in power outages.
“Our crews are all ready to go,” said Grant PUD spokesman Ryan Holterhoff. “If you experience a power outage, don’t call 911, call our outage number. That’s the quickest way to get help.”
In a press release issued early Monday, Spokane-based Avista said its crews are ready as well to respond to storm damage or storm-related power outages. Avista customers experiencing a loss of power should Avista’s outage hotline at 800-227-9187.
Avista also recommends anyone whose power has gone down should turn off all appliances that were on when the power went out, unplug electronic equipment (including computers), leave a light for radio on to know when the power has been restored, turn on a front porch light to help Avista crews know which customers do and do not have power, and not to wire a portable generator into their house main or run a generator inside.
Holterhoff said that, while the winds are potentially dangerous, Grant County is different from much of Avista’s service area — particularly near Spokane — where more trees means more falling limbs and greater risk to power lines in bad weather.
“We’re different from Spokane, we don’t have a lot of trees,” Holterhoff said. “Our team is focused on the windiest days, the coldest days, the hottest days, and we’re ready to handle that.”
Lights out?
If you experience a power outage, do not call 911. To report a power loss, call:
- 800-216-5226 (Grant County PUD) if you live in Grant County.
- 800-227-9187 (Avista) if you live in Adams County.
Charles H. Featherstone can be reached at cfeatherstone@columbiabasinherald.com