More thunderstorms may be on the way

By Katherine Sather
Seattle Times Eastside bureau

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Thunderstorms that caused lightning flashes 35,000 feet above ground Thursday night could return to the Puget Sound area this weekend.

The National Weather Service predicts storms over the Cascades today.

"There's a possibility of one or two stringing out across the lowlands," said Brad Colman, meteorologist for the weather service.

Thursday's storms knocked branches off trees and caused power outages to about 6,000 customers, most on the Eastside.

"It was flashes, flashes all evening long. It was wild," said Stan Mandell, who with his wife was using a leaf blower yesterday to clean the deck and driveway of their South Bellevue home.

"It just made a big mess," said neighbor Ernie Taylor, who brought out a pressure washer to remove debris from his roof.

The storms started in Central Washington on Thursday afternoon and moved southwest over the Cascades.

Local thunderstorms typically reach about 20,000 feet above ground, Colman said. But Thursday's storm included lightning seven miles high.

Colman said thunderstorms are most common in the Northwest during the spring. "Thunderstorms are never normal for Western Washington, but we're in the season where if we get in this kind of pattern, it would not be unexpected," he said.
 
Most power outages in South Bellevue were caused when a tree fell onto power lines on 118th Avenue Southeast and Southeast 23rd Street, said Tim Bader of Puget Sound Energy. Power wasn't restored there until about 7 a.m. yesterday.

Power outages also occurred on Mercer Island and other locations scattered across the county. Most customers had their power restored within a few hours.

While no injuries were reported from the storm, the National Weather Service cautions that lightning can be dangerous.

Tomorrow, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) begins a weeklong campaign to promote lightning safety. About 25 million lightning strikes reach the ground each year in the United States, according to NOAA statistics.

Katherine Sather: 206-464-2752 or ksather@seattletimes.com