Thursday’s powerful windstorm knocked out power to some 2,840 residents in the Burien/Normandy Park neighborhoods.

According to Seattle City Light, power went out around 6:30pm and was restored for most customers around 7:30pm.

City Light says the boundaries of the Burien outage were:

• On the north: S 96th St.
• On the south: SW 172nd St
• On the east: 24th Ave S.
• On the west, 33rd Ave SW

Not all customers within these boundaries were affected.

Crews are working to restore the few outages that remain.

For up-to-date outage info, check this City Light website out: http://powerlines.seattle.gov

A windstorm with winds gusting up to 50mph caused numerous power outages across the Burien area Monday night.

The outages initially left more than 18,000 City Light customers without power, and aside from B-Town, some of the largest outages were found in West Seattle and the Rainier Valley.

Power was restored (at least to us) around 5am Tuesday morning, and Seattle City Light says that by 1am power had been restored to about half the customers who were initially affected.

Seattle City Light experienced multiple outages throughout its service territory, starting about 9:30pm Monday night (Nov. 15th), when a strong weather front moved through the area, bringing sustained winds of 20 to 30 mph and gusts of 50 mph. With many leaves still on the trees, those winds brought branches into contact with power lines, creating outages.

According to City Light, as of 9am Tuesday, Nov. 16th, it looks like there’s only one remaining outage in the Burien area, affecting some 134 customers, with a projected restoration time of 1:10pm today; to see a “live” map of outages, click here:

[EDITOR'S NOTE: One reason it took us until 9am Tuesday morning to post this was because we too were victims of the outage.]

A power outage hit Burien Tuesday afternoon (April 27) around 1:35pm, initially affecting some 4.750 customers, according to Seattle City Light spokesman Peter Clark.

UPDATE 2:46pm: According to City Light’s Powerlines page, power has been fully restored and the culprit was a tree branch:

UPDATE 2:24pm: @SEACityLight just Tweeted:

“A power outage in South Seattle and Burien has been mostly restored. Current estimate 800 customers still out. Cause ID’d and being fixed.”

We first caught wind of the outage through a Tweet from @isisb511, who said:

“Omg everyones power in burien on 1st ave went out. Both my branch (and the whole freddies) lights went out and chris’ branch power went out”

and

“Omg power out again! Three times straight its out now… for good.. my goodness”

We also got a call from Photographer Francis Zera, who said that there were multiple “flickering” outages before power finally went out for good.

While the cause of the outage is still being investigated, the boundaries of it are:

• NORTH: South 96th
• SOUTH: South 172nd Street
• EAST: 24th Ave South
• WEST: 33rd Ave SW

According to Clark, crews were en route to investigate.

It is unknown when electricity will be restored, but if you’re a Blog Reader in these areas you can always use your iPhone or other mobile device.

To find out more, visit Seattle City Light’s “Powerlines” page here (be aware though that as of 2:15pm, that site has yet to be updated) or follow them on Twitter here.

UPDATE 4/2/10 @ 5pm: Seattle City Light says that their repair crews restored power about 3:30pm to 3,700 homes and businesses in Burien and unincorporated King County that were affected by an outage caused by a spring wind storm.

As we reported earlier, the outage occurred about 2:20 p.m.

The general boundaries were South 96th Street on the north, SW 175th Street on the south, 24th Ave South on the west, and 33rd Ave SW on the east. Not all customers within those boundaries were affected.

According to City Light, the outage was caused by a falling tree coming into contact with power lines in the high winds.

When it was first reported, City Light said that crews “expected to have power fully restored about 8pm.” They obviously beat that deadline.

Winds also caused numerous outages in several other areas of City Light’s territory, including about 2,900 homes and businesses in Lake Forest Park that were affected by – you guessed it – a tree blown over by high winds into power lines.

Seattle City Light had 14 crews ready to respond to outages related to overhead power lines throughout the day.

UPDATE 2:45pm 11/16/09: It appears that Seattle City Light lineworkers restored power about 2pm Monday (Nov. 16th) to most of the 4,000 homes and businesses affected by an outage in Burien and unincorporated King County.

According to Seattle City Light’s website, the outage started about 12:40pm as the result of an equipment failure that started a utility pole fire on SW 104^th Street.

The repair crew expected to restore service for the remaining 360 customers without power by 5pm.

The general boundaries of the remaining outage were SW 100th Street on the north, SW 108th Street on the south, Occidental Way SW on the east, and 10th Avenue SW on the west.

PREVIOUSLY: According to the latest “Tweet” from Seattle City Light:

Power restored to most customers in Burien, King County outage.

Remaining 360 customers should have power back by 5 p.m

A previous Tweet from SCL said:

Burien, King County outage caused by pole fire. Crews on site making repairs. Estimate to restore power by 4 p.m.

EVEN MORE PREVIOUSLY: On Monday afternoon (Nov. 16th) around 12:40pm, Seattle City Light reported that around 4,000 customers have lost power in the Burien and North Highline areas.

According to their website:

A repair crew was immediately dispatched to identify the problem and make repairs. An estimate for when power might be restored was not immediately available.

The general boundaries of the outage were SW 95th Street on the north, SW 131st Street on the south, Glendale Way S on the east, and Seola Beach Drive SW on the west.

Over 3,600 residents in the Burien/SeaTac areas lost power at 12:36pm Tuesday (June 30th) due to a brush fire at a substation that “burned cables on a telephone pole,” according to Mike Eagan of Seattle City Light.

“It seems a cable fault at a terminator on a tower at the Duwamish Substation (located at 10000 W. Marginal Way So.) caused the outage and the brush fire,” Eagan added. “A terminator is a device at the end of an insulated high-voltage cable that connects it to the distribution system.”

Power was lost in an area spanning, from the north end, South 96th Street, on the south by SW 175th Street, between 24th Ave.SW and 33rd Ave SW.

Thankfully, power was restored just over an hour later at 1:50pm, avoiding riots in the streets from disgruntled B-Town Blog Readers.

Here’s City Light’s original statements as posted on their website:

Power went out for approximately 3,671 City Light customers in Burien, SeaTac and unincorporated King County at 12:36 p.m. today.

The cause of the outage is currently unknown, but City Light crews are heading to the area to investigate. An estimated time of restoration is unknown at this time.

The area affected is bordered on the north by So. 96th St., on the south by S.W. 175th St, between 24th Ave. S.W. and 33rd Ave S.W.

Power has been fully restored for the approximately 3,671 City Light customers in Burien, SeaTac and unincorporated King County whose electricity went out at 12:36 p.m. today.

The area affected was bordered on the north by So. 96^th St., on the south by S.W. 175th St, between 24^th Ave. So. on the east and 33^rd Ave S.W. on the west.

Numerous Burien-area residents were in the dark Sunday night, and it wasn’t just because the sun went down – Seattle City Light reports that power was lost last night around 8pm to nearly 3,900 homes.

According to Mike Eagan of Seattle City Light, there were two outages overnight, both caused by falling tree branches laden with heavy snow:

1. Boundaries – 1/4/2009 8:03:00 PM:

• North – S Barton St;
• South – SW 152nd St;
• West – Puget Sound;
• East – 10th Ave S;
• Approximate customers affected: 3899
• Cause: UNKNOWN It was a Tree
• Estimated power restoration time for the above outage: January 5, 2009 at 6 a.m. 100% power restored at 1:28am 1/5/09

2. Boundaries – 1/4/09 early am (time unknown):

• North – S. 96th
• South – SW 175th
• West – 24th SW
• East- 33rd SW
• Cause: Tree
• 95% power restored as of 9:25am 1/5/09

During the afternoon, more than 8,000 customers lost power in City Light’s service area.

The range of the outage started on the north at South Director Street to SW 150th Street on the south; and on the east from 12th Ave. South to the west at 25th Ave SW.

Seattle City Light says they’re prepared for any further outages due to wind or cold, and they also offer up this warning:

In the event of a large-scale outage, residents should be ready to fend for themselves for at least three days.

One of the best steps is to assemble an emergency kit with at least three days of food and water for each person in the family and any family pets. Other items to include are a hand-crank or battery-operated flashlight and radio, fresh batteries, a survival blanket, a first aid kit, pocket tissues and hand sanitizer wipes. For a complete list of what to include, please visit http://www.govlink.org/3days3ways/.

City Light also reminds people that barbecue grills and emergency generators should never be operated indoors. Doing so could cause fatal carbon monoxide poisoning. If you lose power, dress in layers to stay warm and seal up drafty windows and doors to slow the loss of heat in your home.

Our advice:

• Stock up Saturday on groceries (for the entire week – see weather warning below) before it gets too cold and the roads become difficult
• Go to McLendon’s and get some wrap to use on your water pipes and do some serious winterizing around the house
• Make sure your car has anti-freeze
• Get ready for no school on several days this coming week (perhaps)
• Be prepared to stay home if indeed the snow and ice arrive
  

The Weather Service is predicting up to a week or longer of a major cold snap starting Saturday, and they’re calling it “the coldest since 1990″:

An Arctic cold front will move south through western Washington on Saturday…pulling in much colder air in its wake. The front will first arrive over the north interior early in the morning…where Fraser outflow winds will pick up on Saturday morning… bringing in very cold and very windy conditions. As the front slips further south during the day with unsettled conditions continuing…snow accumulations of 1 to 3 inches are possible for much of The Lowlands on Saturday afternoon and evening. With the passage of the cold front… daytime temperatures will actually fall. As temperatures fall below freezing… wet surfaces could quickly become icy… so be sure to watch your footing and avoid slip-and-fall accidents.

By Monday… temperatures will generally reach daytime highs only in the 20s with nighttime lows in the teens or lower. With the continuation of strong northeast winds over the north interior… wind chill values should drop to 10 or 15 below zero. Wind chills this low can cause frostbite to exposed skin in about 30 minutes. The north interior will be under the gun for brutally cold wind chills for much of the week ahead as cold air continues to funnel out of the Fraser valley.

Cold sub-freezing weather should continue over nearly all of western Washington through next week. In addition… a weather system on Wednesday could interact with the stubborn cold air mass to produce a renewed threat of accumulating snow nearly everywhere except perhaps the immediate coastline.

The bottom line is that western Washington should experience the coldest weather in a couple of decades during the week ahead. Please be prepared for an unusually prolonged and intense period of winter weather.