Windstorm 2006

We had a monster of a windstorm last night. It rolled in pretty strongly about 10pm. We have a great view of the I-90 bridge and Mercer Island and it didn't take long for half of the island to go dark. We kept seeing blue flashes all over the sky from the power outages and within an hour all of Mercer Island and nearly everything we could see was dark. It was weird how suddenly the sky would be lit up with blue and then one big area would just go dark. We finally lost our power about 11pm just as I was getting ready to prime the bathroom. Good timing I guess! I hear a wind gust of 113mph was clocked at Chinook Pass near Mount Rainier. Crazy!

Our neighbors had a close call with their pine tree, which took out their XMas Santa, some potted plants, and part of their fence but spared the house. Co-workers let me know that power was out at work and the parking lot was blocked by a tree, so I got a nice 3-day weekend. I decided it was a good excuse to get out on the bicycle for a light recovery ride and check out the damage. There were tons of bikers out, probably enjoying an unexpected day off and light traffic.

This tree was suspended above the road off Lake Washington Blvd near the arboretum and Bush School.

Here's another huge tree that was blocking the road to the arboretum. The road is closed while city crews are cleaning everything up.


Just north of the arboretum someone's Prius bit the dust. They had a cardboard sign taped to the tree and though I was curious what was on it, I didn't get too close since power lines were down across the road.

All the poor residents of Mercer Island are apparently stuck there for a while. There's so many trees down on Island Crest Way (which is the main thoroughfare on the island) that no one can get through.

I guess Robin Hood Lanes in Edmonds is open and bowling is on for tonight. Our power is back on so I need to get the primer up in the bathroom and then I might be heading out to bowl. To be honest I was looking forward to skipping out tonight and staying home!