In the early morning of Sunday, Jan. 6, a massive windstorm with wind speeds of up to 60 mph struck City Light’s service area. The rapid storm caused significant damage to City Light’s infrastructure including broken poles and trees on lines. Soon, 50,398 customers were without power. Crews, dispatchers and other City Light teams worked long shifts throughout the weekend and well into Tuesday, Jan. 8 to safely restore power to all. We want to thank our customers for their patience and their messages of the support as we worked to restore power. Below is a timeline of the event.
Jan. 6
[ORIGINAL POST 1/6, 2:34 AM] Nearly 50,000 customers are currently without power across our service area. Please continue to check our outage map for estimated restoration updates. http://seattle.gov/light/outage. Thank you.
[3:20 AM] There are currently 50,398 customers without power across our service area. A large-scale outage of this magnitude will require extensive restoration which will last throughout today and possibly into Monday. We will provide updates as we receive them. Thanks.
[ 4:00 AM] Crews are assessing the vast amount of damage across our service area. Please remember that the restoration times on our outage map (seattle.gov/light/outage) are estimates and can shift due to the severity of the damage. Thank you for your patience and please stay safe!
[5:00 AM] Crews have restored power to more than 9,500 customers and 40,000+ are still without power. With temps in the low 40s, please bundle up and use portable generators outside in well-ventilated areas. We will restore power as quickly and safely as possible!
[6:45 AM] Crews continue to restore power and assess the damage from the windstorm across the area. Currently, 33,026 customers are without power. We thank you all for your patience. #wawind
[8:00 AM] Our crews and teams made considerable progress this morning! Currently, we have restored power to over 28k customers, with roughly 22k to go. If you plan to be out and about this morning, keep your distance from downed trees and power lines. Thanks!
[1:11 PM] Crews continue to make progress in the aftermath of this windstorm. They have now restored power to more than 40,000 customers. About 9,000 still to go. They won’t stop until everyone is back in service.
[3:15 PM] Our crews and teams are continuing to restore power to customers across our service area with a little more than 6,500 to go. This is a good time to prepare so you and your family can keep safe and warm this evening. Learn more here: https://powerlines.seattle.gov/2019/01/06/tips-to-stay-safe-warm-during-an-outage/
[6:55 PM] We have restored power to over 47,000 customers across our service area and we’re not done yet! Our crews will work throughout the night into tomorrow to restore power to all, including two large projects that will require extra attention. We will continue to keep you updated. Thank you.
Jan. 7
[10 AM] Our crews and teams worked overnight to restore power to as many customers as they could. Currently, roughly 500 customers are still without power from Sunday’s storm. We aim to have power restored to everyone by this evening. If you are still without power, please know that we are doing as much as we can to get your lights back on. We’re sure it was a long night for most of you and we appreciate your understanding and patience. Thank you.
[5:15 PM] Crews continue to restore power to the less than 90 customers remaining without power from Sunday’s windstorm. Hang tight! We won’t stop until we have restored power to you all. Thank you.
Jan. 8
[3:37 PM] As of earlier this afternoon, we have restored power to the 50,398 customers who lost power due to Sunday morning’s windstorm. Thank you all for your patience and messages of support throughout this restoration process!