SEATTLE - Thousands of Western Washington homes and businesses lost power Thursday, a kiteboarder lost his life, a Kent woman was hit in the head by the top of a tree and strong winds forced the Hood Canal Floating Bridge to close temporarily as the first major fall storm brought gusts as high as 62 mph.

KING 5 Meteorologist Jeff Renner says the winds diminished by 9 p.m. Areas from Everett and to the north saw 20-45 mph sustained winds with gusts up to 60 mph. The strongest winds will were between Lynnwood and Whidbey Island, and through the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

While the storm isn't as strong as the December 14, 2006 wind storm that knocked out power to over 1 million customers, it was still very damaging because of all the leaves and limbs still on the trees this time of year.

Man drowns in Lake Washington

A kite boarder was found floating face down in Lake Washington about one-half mile from the Kirkland marina during the wind storm.

A Seattle police patrol boat found the Seattle man after police received emergency calls at 5:30 p.m. from another kite boarder. He told police he was watching as the other kite boarder was being dragged north by the gusting wind.

Officer Jeff Kappel says when rescuers pulled the man from the water, he was unresponsive and not breathing.

Power outages

At the height of the storm, more than 200,000 customers lost power although utilities had braced for the wind with extra crews on hand and moved to quickly restore service.

Seattle City Light at one point reported more than 40,000 customers had lost power while the figure in Tacoma was 23,000.

Puget Sound Energy reported outages to about 150,000 customers in eight counties, including Thurston, Pierce, King and Kitsap counties.

By 10 p.m. Thursday, Snohomish County PUD still had 85,000 customers in the dark, Seattle City Light more than 10,000, PSE about 68,000, and Tacoma Power 1,700.

Winds treacherous for drivers

The Hood Canal Bridge was shut down from about 4:45 p.m. until 7:30 p.m. because of the strong winds. 56 mile-per-hour winds were reported on the 520 floating bridge across Lake Washington at about 3 p.m. Washington State Ferries canceled passenger-only runs between Seattle and Vashon Island, and other runs were delayed.

The National Weather Service said Thursday evening the storm was moving north and headed into Canada.

The highest gust reported by early evening was 62 mph in Spanaway, Weather Service meteorologist Carl Cerniglia said.

"We think it's starting to lose its punch," Johnny Berg, another Weather Service meteorologist, said just after 4 p.m. "The worst is over and things should start dialing down here soon."

Danger from falling trees

Trees ended up on several homes and across cars - not only in parking lots, but on highways. One woman was fortunate to walk away after a tree landed on her car on Highway 410 near Bonney Lake.

A woman was injured by a falling tree in Kent, south of Seattle, said Fire Capt. Kyle Ohashi. The unidentified woman was near her car in the Kent Station shopping center parking lot just after 2 p.m. when she was hit by the top of a cottonwood tree that snapped off in high winds.

She suffered head injuries and was taken to a hospital, Ohashi said. Her condition was not immediately known.

In the Maple Valley area, also south of Seattle, a live power line fell on a Cedar River Middle School bus loaded with about 40 children, according to a Tahoma School District spokesman.

The bus driver reported seeing a flash while driving along State Highway 169, and she pulled over, spokesman Kevin Patterson said. The children, uninjured, were able to walk off the bus and many called their parents on cellphones.

A plea to residents to be prepared with emergency supplies of food, water, batteries and other necessities was issued Wednesday by Gov. Chris Gregoire, who said state emergency management was on alert.

Storm preparations

Before the storm hit, Puget Sound Energy crews were trimming trees away from power lines. Officials noted that many trees still had a full load of wind-catching leaves and thus were more vulnerable to being blown down or losing branches.

The utility, which struggled to restore power to 700,000 homes and businesses in December, is spending an extra $2 million on tree trimming, spokeswoman Martha Monfried said.

Oregon and the coast

The wind storm lashed the Oregon coast Thursday morning, dumping heavy rain inland, knocking down trees and causing at least one rockslide. Wind gusts reached 70 mph in some areas along the coast, but started to die down early Thursday afternoon. Inland, winds were weaker than expected, but a wind advisory issued by the National Weather Service was still in effect through 5 p.m. Thursday for the central Willamette Valley, the Portland Vancouver Metro area and the I-5 corridor in southwest Washington.

Another storm is moving into the Western Washington Friday, but Renner says it will only bring 15-25 mph winds in the Puget Sound area, along with some rain.