Snow began falling in Pierce County Monday night as people around Western Washington continued to deal with the fallout from high winds that swept the region earlier in the day.
Less than a half inch of snow was expected overnight in Tacoma and surrounding areas, but rain and warming temperatures should quickly wash it away, the National Weather Service reported Monday.
“This is going to drop down a little bit of snow,” Weather Service meteorologist Art Gaeble said.
By late morning, the snow level should rise to 500 to 1,000 feet. The forecast calls for a chance of rain and a high of 39 degrees.
Powerful winds gusting up to 60 mph hit the coast Monday. Seattle-Tacoma International Airport recorded wind gusts up to 59 mph and Tacoma topped out at 46 mph, Gaeble said.
The winds meant at least partial closures for many local ski resorts and Mount Rainier National Park, which shut down the Nisqually entrance due to toppled trees.
Emergency responders were called to a handful of homes throughout Pierce County after trees fell on vehicles and roofs.
In Lakewood, a large tree crashed through a house in the 7000 block of Foster Street Southwest about 3:30 a.m. It narrowly missed a baby boy sleeping in his crib, said West Pierce Fire & Rescue spokeswoman Hallie McCurdy. The boy was taken to the hospital as a precaution but was not injured.
More than 8,000 Puget Sound Energy customers lost electricity early Monday in south King and Thurston counties. The outages were mostly in Federal Way, Auburn and Olympia but crews restored power by mid-afternoon.
High-cresting waves flooded about a dozen houses on Day Island, destroying boat launches and pushing debris beneath cars and into garages.
When the waters receded around 9 a.m., residents banded together to clean up. They walked empty plant pots back to their neighbors. They grabbed shovels and helped dig debris out from beneath vehicles. They snapped photographs for insurance claims and shook their heads in wonder.
“This is the highest tide I’ve ever seen,” said Jana Novak, whose family has lived in Day Island since 1957. “The road was a sea. I felt like I was in a houseboat.”
The storm also caused a mudslide that hit Burlington Northern Santa Fe tracks in the Nisqually area north of Olympia, prompting a 48 hour moratorium for Amtrak trains between Tacoma and Olympia. The tracks were cleared for freight trains, spokesman Gus Melonas said.
Blizzard-like conditions hit the Cascades, dumping 33 inches in the last 24 hours at Paradise. Accumulations from the storm that started Sunday are likely to total 2 to 3 feet by this morning.
Stacia Glenn: 253-597-8653
stacia.glenn@thenewstribune.com
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