Charge your devices and expect a few big branches to fall as the National Weather Service is predicting wind gusts up to 40 MPH on Capitol Hill Tuesday night and more severe windstorm conditions in the region as “anomalously strong storm system” moves in.
The storm will take on different dimensions than typical events as easterly winds will whip across Western Washington caused by the low pressure front. Continue reading
Seattle City Light says more than 4,000 customers around the areas above I-5 on the western edge of Capitol Hill and swaths near E Thomas were without power after a Thursday afternoon outage attributed, sadly, to “Bird/Animal Contact.”
SCL reports the outage began around 2:15 PM and says it expecting service to be restored by 8:45 PM. Typically, the city’s restoration estimates are conservative and power can be restored much earlier depending on the damage being repaired.
You can view outage information and track updates at seattle.gov/city-light/outages.
UPDATE: The outage was already reduced to fewer than 2,000 customers just after 3 PM.
UPDATE x2: SCL reported service was restored just before 8 PM after repairing a final downed wire near 15th and Thomas.
Two transformer fires were reported around the time of the initial outage. Seattle Fire was called to a pole fire reported at 15th and Thomas just before 2:15 PM and a second in the 300 block of Summit Ave E at 2:16 PM as the grid absorbed whatever failure resulted from the animal incident.
CHS reported here in June about the remaining areas of Capitol Hill where utility lines have not yet been moved underground by city work and redevelopment to improve service reliability and help avoid long disruptions.
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(Image: CHS)
Day-long power outages from June-uary winds and rain that hit over 7,000 Seattle City Light customers in northern Capitol Hill earlier this month didn’t have enough of an impact for the city to consider installing underground power lines. The location of Capitol Hill power outages follows a pattern: in areas where multifamily housing development is less prevalent, power lines sit above ground and are left vulnerable to high winds and storms.
“The recent, sustained high wind event caused many outages throughout our service area including Capitol Hill,” Jenn Strang, media relations manager of SCL, told CHS.
Power outages are frequently caused by fallen trees, wind and ice. Strang said some instances are easier to fix than others, like the outage at 15th St and E Olive St.
“In the case of Monday’s outage at 15th Street East and East Olive, multiple wire spans and crossarms needed to be replaced and repaired which required different crews to complete the tasks,” Strang said.
Installing power lines underground to lessen the risk of outages in the area isn’t an option without larger scale housing development.
For one, it’s expensive — and the city wants developers to pay for it.
Nicholas Rich, client executive at IMEG—a national engineering and design consulting company— said many owners of newly built apartments want City Light to bury overhead power lines underground.
“If you put those underground you really improve the reliability in that respect locally,” Rich told CHS. “Usually a new developer won’t want to do that because City Light is perfectly happy keeping those overhead lines just the way they are.” Continue reading
Thousands of customers were without power in the neighborhoods around northern Capitol Hill Monday morning as a swarm of electricity outages hit Seattle and the Puget Sound under gusty winds following a day of record June rain.
Seattle City LIght said more than 7,000 customers were impacted by the Capitol Hill-area outage between Volunteer Park and E Madison. Crews were investigating the cause. City Light’s most recent estimate restoration listed a hopeful 11 AM target.
More than 20,000 customers were reported without power across the city
You can view current outages and status reports here.
The windy conditions were wreaking havoc on water-logged, leafy trees and wires.
The Capitol Hill power failure was first reported around 4:45 AM.
A transformer fire was reported on E Alder and wires down on E Yesler later in the morning.
15th Ave E, meanwhile, was blocked to traffic including Metro Route 10 by a downed tree across both lanes near E Prospect.
The conditions have made for a trickier than usual Monday morning on the city’s streets. Drivers are reminded that intersections without functioning signals are to be treated as all-way stops.
Seattle Public Schools had not made any announcements about delays or cancellations as of just before 8 AM.
UPDATE 8 AM: The Hill-area outage has been reduced to around 3,700 customers. Restoration remains estimated for 11 AM.
UPDATE x2: The roadway has been reported cleared on 15th Ave E.
UPDATE x3: With just over 2,800 customers still without power in the Capitol Hill-area outage, Seattle City Light has provided a revised service restoration of 9 PM.
Meany Middle School and Stevens Elementary announced their school days were continuing despite the ongoing outage.
UPDATE x4: Seattle City Light says it has a doozy of a repair on its hands to bring the Capitol Hill outage to a close.
“Multiple wires and cross arms were damaged early this morning due to loose vegetation and wind gusts,” a spokesperson tells CHS.
The spokesperson said the main damage occurred near 15th Ave E and E Olive St.
The SCL representative says the work is requiring “multiple crews” to complete “these complex repairs.”
The spokesperson said the work is expected to be completed around 10 PM “barring any unforeseen delays.”
UPDATE x5: That’s progress. SCL reports the outage is down to just over 1,000 customers as of just before 6 PM.
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A breezy and wet Saturday afternoon left more than 5,000 customers in the dark around northern Capitol Hill and Eastlake.
Seattle City Light said about 10,000 customers were out across the city as of just after 3 PM Saturday.
For the Capitol Hill area outage, the cause of the failure was still being investigated but Seattle City Light said crews had been dispatched for repairs and restoration.
SCL provided a service restoration estimate of 10 PM — though it’s not clear how the department generates its predictions without a cause already determined.
UPDATE: City Light says it has restored power to some for the Eastlake area outage and that it expects full restoration by around 7:15 PM. It is blaming a tree for the failure. One report described a tree falling on wires near the Colonnade park under I-5.
UPDATE x2: SCL says the outage has ended:
The outage on north Capitol Hill/Eastlake affecting approximated 2,800 customers has been restored. We thank our crews for their work and for your patience as we continue to restore power across our service area.
You can check for updates via mobile at seattle.gov/city-light/outages.
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Loud booms and a reported 16th Ave E transformer fire preceded a power outage that disrupted service to around 5,000 customers across Capitol Hill Monday night.
Seattle City Light said service was restored for most customers by just before 12:30 AM on the icy night, blaming “equipment failure” for the outage that began about two hours earlier. Continue reading
UPDATE: In the midst of the outage area, Capitol Hill’s St. Mark’s Cathedral also went dark Sunday night just before the weekly broadcast of the Compline performance in the nave. The show went on in person but the weekly broadcast on KING FM had to turn to an archive recording to fill the time. Thanks to a fully charged cell phone, you can watch Sunday night’s performance here.
The Thanksgiving holiday weekend ended with darkness for thousands in northern Capitol Hill and Eastlake.
Seattle City Light said the outage that began around 9 PM knocked out power to around 6,700 customers in neighborhoods along around Volunteer Park, the Miller Park area, Roanoke, and into Eastlake.
City Light said it was working to determine the cause and did not have an immediate estimate for restoration.
UPDATE: Power came back on for most customers around 10 PM.
UPDATE x2: City Light reported full restoration just after 4 AM with customers in Eastlake finally getting switched back on. Reports in the area said a transformer had blown nearby. We’ll follow up to ask more about what caused the service disruption.
UPDATE x3: SCL says the failure was caused by “an overhead wire coming down near the boundary of Eastlake and Capitol Hill.”
Many people reported hearing loud booms prior to the outage indicating an equipment failure and transformer explosion were involved.
The power outage came on a cold, clear night with little wind and no precipitation.
Many intersections and streetlights in the area were darkened. Drivers should treat dark traffic signals as four-way stops. In some areas, streets had one side of dark homes and the other filled with houses still with power. Other blocks were fully dark save for the occasional home with a solar-charged battery system.
Seattle view of Eastlake / Capitol Hill neighborhood from Westlake. Whole hill above the highway is dark with no power. #seattle #PowerOutageUpdate @SEACityLight pic.twitter.com/2HNFek7caV
— Adam Konig is also on 🦋 (@Adamkonig) November 27, 2023
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Seattle City Light was predicting a relatively quick turnaround after crews were dispatched Tuesday afternoon to restore power to around 4,000 customers south of Volunteer Park and along 23rd Ave in the Stevens and Miller Park areas.
UPDATE 2:30 PM: SCL wasn’t kidding. The power was reported back on in under 90 minutes. The cause was determined to be cable failure.
The outage was first reported just after 1 PM and though Seattle City Light hadn’t yet specified a cause, the department said it expected crews to have the power back on before 5 PM. Continue reading
Thanks to a reader for this snowy overnight picture
UPDATE 11/30/2022 6:36 AM: Streets were reported bare but there were plenty of slushy sidewalks and gutters early Wednesday morning across Capitol Hill.
Rising temperatures should mean no more accumulating snow through the day with the forecast calling for a mix of rain and snow Wednesday night. Several power outages continue through the north of the city with small pockets without power in the area of North Capitol Hill.
Sorry, kids, no snow day. Seattle Public Schools in Central Seattle were fully operational.
King County Metro, meanwhile, has lifted its short-lived shift to snow routes in the central city. You can check the CHS Traffic Cams page to see conditions in the Broadway and Pike/Pine core.
UPDATE 12:45 AM: We’ve added a few pictures from snowy Volunteer Park to the post. City Light was reporting 81 active power outages in the city and several locations around the Hill and beyond reported utility wires for services like phone, internet, and cable television down from falling snow-laden branches. Around the Hill, wires were reported down at the 600 block of E Pine, 17th and Yesler, the 900 block of 20th Ave, 14th and Aloha, the 500 block of 17th Ave E, the 700 block of 22nd Ave E, and the 1000 block of Boylston Ave E.
Denny is becoming quite the show pic.twitter.com/f9fLdQohkl
— Vanver Brown (@Var1984) November 30, 2022
UPDATE 11:00 PM: About an inch had accumulated at Capitol Hill’s highest points as snowfall outpaced predictions and the expected transition to warmer temperatures and rain failed to materialize late Tuesday night. Meanwhile, areas north of the city were being hit with heavy snow. The National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning for the area with Capitol Hill falling right at the dividing line where rain was expected.
While temperatures are still expected to warm overnight, accumulations could persist and make for a slippery morning. Slippery streets were reportedly already claiming a few sliding and skidding cars on the Hill’s most most notorious steep routes like Denny Way. If it comes to it, stick to the city’s planned snow routes where plowing will take place if conditions warrant.
Continue reading
Around 6,800 customers were reported without power around Volunteer Park and northeastern Capitol Hill on this blustery and damp Friday afternoon.
Seattle City Light said it was investigating the outage first reported around 2:30 PM and spreading across neighborhoods on both sides of I-5.
911 callers reported loud bangs and a possible transformer explosion near Franklin Ave E at E Howe St. Meanwhile, there were scattered reports of downed trees across the area including on Lake Washington Blvd near the lake.
Seattle City Light did not report an immediate cause for the equipment issues but was reporting a 6 PM estimated restoration of service.
UPDATE: The map as of 6:50 PM
Elsewhere in the city, a demonstration by the Tigrayan diaspora community “against the nearly 2-year long genocidal war committed against the people of Tigray, Ethiopia” was reported in Central Seattle with some protesters reportedly entering freeway onramps. UPDATE: Northbound I-5 is reported fully blocked by the protest and accompanying vehicles. “All northbound lanes on I-5 in downtown #Seattle are blocked for an incident. Both EB/WB I-90 off-ramps to NB I-5 are closed,” WSDOT reports. “Four mile backup right now. Please use alternate routes at this time, and expected congestion.” UPDATE 3:50 PM: While backups remain, WSDOT reports that the freeway is now reopened after protesters agreed to leave the roadway.
UPDATE 6:50 PM: Power has been restored to all but around 1,800 customers along the St. Mark’s Greenbelt.
UPDATE 7:05 PM: Oops! Repairs continue and the outage area is again without power.
UPDATE 7:11 PM: Annnnd the lights are back on again for many in the area — wait for an official announcement from City Light before you get too comfy.
UPDATE 11/5/2022 7:25 PM: City Light crews worked overnight to restore power for the remaining swaths of outages with many customers still without electricity until around 3 AM.
The outage has been blamed on a tree branch falling on a wire setting off the transformer explosion reports earlier in the day.
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