Thousands of lightning strikes hit Washington state, triggering delays and power outages
A strong line of thunderstorms developed over western Washington on Saturday, Sept. 8, during the evening hours. It brought frequent lightning, heavy rain, flooding and hail to several regions and knocked out power to thousands of homes. The strong storms caused an "Extreme Weather" delay at Husky Stadium as the University of Washington Huskies played against the California Bears.
The state of Washington was rattled by an estimated 2,200 lightning strikes during a thunderstorm that triggered widespread power outages Saturday night, the National Weather Service reported.
Most of the strikes were recorded in the western area of the state; 200 of those were recorded in the Seattle metro area from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. PDT. According to AccuWeather Meteorologist Renee Duff, the thunderstorms erupted in western Washington as a strong push of cool air from the Pacific Ocean moved ashore.
"The Seattle-Tacoma International Airport picked up 0.59 of an inch of rain during the thunderstorms, which is the most rain at the airport in a single day since April 12 when 0.65 of an inch fell," Duff said.
"Taking a look back at last night between 6 p.m. and 11 p.m., Western Washington estimated number of cloud-to-ground lightning strikes [is] 2,200. That works out to an estimated 440 an hour and 7 to 8 a minute," the National Weather Service in Seattle said in a twitter post.
The severe storm caused an "Extreme Weather" delay at Husky Stadium as the University of Washington Huskies played against the California Bears, and caused the Washington State Fair to cancel events and close early.
"Per NCAA guidelines, the game cannot resume until 30 minutes after the final lightning strike within an 8-mile radius of Husky Stadium," the University of Washington said in a twitter post during the delay.
Lightning lights up clouds above Husky Stadium during a weather delay in the first quarter of an NCAA college football game between Washington and California, Saturday, Sept. 7, 2019, in Seattle. Fans were directed to seek shelter in nearby buildings due to severe weather in the area. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
During the storms peak, the storm caused power outages to over 4,500 customers, according to Seattle City Light's power outage map.
"As we hit the tail-end of this storm, our crews can safely get to these outages that are scattered throughout our service territory," Seattle City Light said in a tweet.
There were no reports of deadly lightning strikes with the storm. According to the National Geographic, the odds of becoming a lightning victim in the U.S. in any one year is 1 in 700,000. The odds of being struck in your lifetime is 1 in 3,000.
"Still, people should keep in mind that any storm can produce potentially deadly lightning strikes, so getting inside at the first clap of thunder is vital," Duff said.
"The Northwest will remain unsettled with numerous showers and thunderstorms through early week, but these storms are not expected to be as intense as they were late Saturday," Duff said.
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