KENNEWICK – Trees fell across roadways and power outages were reported in the Tri-Cities on Sunday as high winds swept across Eastern Washington.
Dust turned the air brown in places and contributed to crashes.
A seven-vehicle crash was reported in the blowing dust in the westbound lanes of Interstate 182 just west of Queensgate Boulevard in Richland Sunday afternoon.
Injuries appeared minor, according to the Washington State Patrol, but a driver from Sunnyside was taken to Kadlec Regional Medical Center in Richland by ambulance.
Interstate 90 was closed from east of Moses Lake to Highway 395 at Ritzville about 3 p.m. Saturday afternoon until about 9 p.m. because of poor visibility.
A woman who drove the stretch of road just 30 minutes before it was closed described the experience as “pretty scary” on the Washington state Department of Transportation East Twitter feed and said she was “white knuckling it.”
A gust of 99.8 mph was reported Sunday afternoon at Rattlesnake Mountain, according to data from the Hanford Meteorological Station.
The National Weather Service issued a high wind warning and blowing dust advisory for the Tri-Cities through 5 a.m. Monday.
Wind gusts as high as 55 mph were forecast for late Sunday night in the Tri-Cities, with wind speeds forecast to decrease after midnight. Wind speeds in rural areas could reach up to 70 mph, according to the weather service.
Pasco police reported several trees were down across the city and advised drivers to be careful.
Kennewick police posted on social media that a tree at 19th Avenue and Shepherd Street crashed through a fence and blocked the roadway.
East 25th Avenue in Finley was closed at an intersection between Yew Street and Highway 397 after a tree took down a power line.
In north Franklin County Road 170 also was closed after a vehicle hit a power pole between Baart and Colonial roads, taking down power lines.
Benton County PUD reported a power outage affecting 829 customers Sunday evening in the area along South Morain Street and Kennewick Avenue to Fourth Avenue and Vancouver Street in Kennewick after a tree fell into a power line.
At 8 p.m. the public utility district estimated it could take at least until 11 p.m. to restore power.
The PUD was also working on some scattered, smaller outages.
The Franklin PUD was reporting outages near downtown Pasco and Pasco High School just before 8 p.m.
