MYNORTHWEST NEWS

Up to 2,500 lightning strikes recorded during severe storm

May 5, 2017, 5:51 AM | Updated: 11:21 am

lightning strikes, Thunderstorms...

Expect to see some lightning Friday afternoon. (KIRO 7)

(KIRO 7)

There were as many as 2,500 cloud-to-ground lightning strikes recorded during the thunderstorm that knocked out power to thousands and flooded roadways across Western Washington Thursday.

Check school closings and delays

It was one of — if not the — most active severe weather day since the mid-1980s, according to data from the National Weather Service. Eight Severe Thunderstorm Warnings were issued, which is more than in the past five years combined, according to KIRO 7 Meteorologist Morgan Palmer.

Fewer than 10,000 Puget Sound Energy customers are without power. Only a handful of Seattle City Light customers are in the dark. Snohomish County PUD reports power has been restored to the bulk of its customers, with scattered outages in the Lake Stevens/Granite Falls area.

KIRO 7 reports Lacey may have been the hardest hit by the thunderstorms. A number of drivers were trapped for hours by the storm that knocked down a power pole.

Thunderstorms are now out of the forecast.

“We’re back to a more typical weather pattern Friday with occasional showers, lots of gray skies, and temperatures only reaching about 60 in the afternoon,” according to Palmer.

MyNorthwest News

teachers pay wa grades...

Charlie Harger

Harger: WA pays teachers top dollar for middling test scores. Maybe we’re grading the wrong thing

Top-tier pay. Record spending. Average results. Why Washington should offer families a real vocational track alongside the traditional college path.

38 minutes ago

Renton camping ban vote...

Heather Bosch, KIRO 7 News

Renton City Council to vote on camping ban

Renton is poised to become the next Washington State city to ban camping on public property.

59 minutes ago

light rail stabbing pioneer square...

Frank Lenzi

Stabbing victim boards Sound Transit light rail train in Seattle’s Pioneer Square

A person was stabbed in Seattle's Pioneer Square neighborhood late Sunday afternoon and then boarded a northbound Sound Transit light rail train before first responders could intervene, the agency said.

12 hours ago

Andre Sayles (2) bite of seattle shooting suspect...

Tom Brock

Texts on hold: SPD delays Bite of Seattle shooting records

Interim Seattle Police Chief Andre Sayles says he needs more time before he can release the police department's internal communications the night of the deadly "Bite of Seattle" shootings.

17 hours ago

A Coast Guard rescue helicopter lifts an injured hiker to safety from Oregon's Three Sisters Wilder...

Tom Brock

Hoist in the high Cascades: Coast Guard lifts injured hiker from treacherous Oregon mountaintop

A Coast Guard helicopter crew rescued an injured hiker from treacherous conditions in the mountains of central Oregon last week.

19 hours ago

Two alleged wire thieves caught in the act on Highway 12 near Aberdeen. Authorities estimate they d...

Tom Brock

Grounded: Grays Harbor deputies cut short highway wire heist

Deputies in Grays Harbor arrested two men Saturday for trying to steal hundreds of feet of wire along Highway 12.

20 hours ago

Up to 2,500 lightning strikes recorded during severe storm