By Saturday morning, September 26, about 15,000 Puget Sound Energy customers remained without power after heavy rain and strong winds, primarily in the Olympia area and Thurston County. The previous day, outages had affected roughly 40,000 customers. Restoration was progressing faster than the storm itself had developed, but for many families, the weekend began with cold stoves, dark traffic lights and a wait for repair crews.
Friday’s storm arrived in western Washington not as a loudly named winter catastrophe, but as an early autumn reminder of how fragile everyday comfort can be. Rain soaked the ground, wind rocked trees that were still covered in leaves, and branches began falling onto power lines. South Puget Sound was hit particularly hard: the National Weather Service issued a high-wind warning for Olympia, the southern part of the sound and neighboring areas of Thurston County.
Puget Sound Energy, or PSE, said Friday that Thurston County had borne the brunt of the storm. The company attributed the extent of the damage not only to winds that proved stronger than forecast, but also to the full tree canopies typical of late September. When foliage is still dense, it turns every tree into a sail — and a gust that would otherwise be ordinary for the region can snap a line or knock a trunk onto equipment.
By Friday evening, the number of customers without power was in the tens of thousands. In a system that serves about 1.2 million electricity customers across 10 Washington counties, that figure does not represent tens of thousands of separate failures: a single damaged transmission line or substation can leave an entire neighborhood without power at once. PSE said it was working to restore transmission service to three substations affected by one major outage.
The morning decline in outages to roughly 15,000 was significant progress, but it was not the end of the story. Numbers on the outage map change as dispatchers receive reports, locate damage and reroute power. The company warned that after a storm, it takes time before it can confidently provide an estimate for each address: crews must first inspect lines, remove dangerous trees and determine what needs to be replaced — a fuse, wire, pole or more complex equipment.
The order of repairs also does not always match what someone sees from a dark window. Utilities first restore the main transmission system and power to substations, followed by larger distribution sections that return service to the greatest number of people. Hospitals, emergency response centers, water treatment facilities, shelters and institutions where people cannot easily be moved elsewhere are given special consideration. Only then do crews turn to smaller, localized damage and individual connections.
For Olympia and its suburbs, that means the city gradually lights up unevenly: one neighborhood is already turning on kettles and routers, while a gasoline generator can still be heard next door. PSE urged residents to stay at least 35 feet — about 11 meters — away from downed power lines and to report hazards to 911 or the company. Generators, when available, should be used only outdoors: carbon monoxide in an enclosed space remains one of the quietest dangers after a power outage.
The weekend forecast calls for drier, calmer weather, meaning repair crews should be able to work without the risk of new widespread damage. But Friday’s storm has already illustrated a familiar autumn pattern in western Washington: rain softens the soil, wind tests the trees, and the grid running through this forested region withstands the challenge section by section. Power returns quickly for most people — and painfully slowly for those whose address remains the last point on the map.
Based on: Most power outages restored after Friday rainfall, drier weekend ahead