Thousands without power in Seattle area, flights at Sea-Tac Airport, Boeing Field temporarily grounded due to weather

Thousands are out of power and all flights leaving Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and Boeing Field were grounded for several minutes Monday as Western Washington was buffeted by strong winds and heavy rainfall.

The grounding at Sea-Tac Airport also affected flights already in the air — they were asked to delay their landing for about 15 minutes, according to the FFA’s website. Departing and arriving flights are expected to continue experiencing short delays, the website says.

More than 155,000 people statewide are currently without power, according to PowerOutage.US. In King County, 26,446 customers are currently without power. In Pierce and Snohomish counties, the number of customers without power are 14,818 and 24,548 respectively.

Puget Sound Energy, which supplies power to most of Western Washington, is reporting 102,828 customers without power as of 4:33 p.m. You can view a list of all electric providers in Washington and how many outages they’re reporting here.

More winds and heavy rainfall are expected throughout Monday, according to the National Weather Service (NWS) in Seattle. The area is currently being battered by an atmospheric river, a concentrated corridor of moisture that shoots wetness into an area for an extended period of time. Conditions are expected to lighten up Tuesday.

The peak wind speeds recorded Monday throughout the area are listed on the NWS website. Seattle experienced a high of 48 mph, while the Sea-Tac Airport saw a high of 58 mph. To the south, Tacoma and Olympia saw highs of 47 and 55 mph, respectively. To the north, Everett saw a high of 53 mph. The NWS says wind speeds have peaked and will gradually decrease overnight. 

Flooding, which occurred throughout the region as the inclement weather continues, lead to an evacuation order for the small town of Hamilton in Skagit County. A state of emergency was also declared for Whatcom County, where some communities experienced major flooding. On Twitter, the Whatcom County Sheriff's Office posted photos of deputies in a rescue vehicle in a neighborhood where water had risen above the tires of cars sitting in the street. 

The U.S Coast Guard  also assisted with evacuation efforts for people living near Highway 110 west of the city of Forks on the Olympic Peninsula. On Twitter, the Coast Guard said about 10 people were in danger due to flooding. No injuries were reported.