SEATTLE -- A wild spring storm walloped Western Washington Monday, lightning lit up the evening commute, and hail and snow covered some roadways.
Wind whipped up whitecaps along the Puget Sound shoreline and gusts were strong enough to bring down branches. Bursts of hail came down in spots from Renton to Des Moines, making roads more slippery than usual. The Cascades got a good dumping of snow from the northern border to Mount Hood.
And all this wild weather brought several power outages with it, and hundreds of lightning strikes were recorded.
And the story is similar in the mountains. A winter storm warning remains in effect through Tuesday 11 a.m. for the Cascades and Olympics.
"Eight to 16 inches of snow are possible in the passes overnight, plus another 2 to 8 inches Tuesday," said KING 5 chief meteorologist Jeff Renner. "The snow level will remain low, about 1500 to 2000 feet."
The Washington State Department of Transportation advises traction tires on Snoqualmie and Stevens passes.
The National Weather Service said winds Sunday night into Monday were clocked at 20 to 30 mph with gusts up to 40 mph.
"Last night the trees felt like they were gonna fall," said one Seattle resident.
The wind knocked out power to about 4,000 customers in Seattle's Magnolia neighborhood Sunday night. Crews managed to restore power by noon Monday. At one point, about 1,800 customers in Oakville east Grays Harbor County were without power.
Puget Sound Energy reported power lines down in the Olympia area, and Tacoma City Light reported power lines down in Tanawax, near Lake Kapowsin. No word on how many customers were affected.
Forecasters expect heavy rain on the Olympics to cause minor flooding along the Skokomish River.
Expect cool showery weather for the rest of the week.
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