Strong Winds, Widespread Power Outages, and Thick Smoke Impacting Western WA

Dangerous fire weather is impacting Western Washington right now. Here's the scoop:

• Heavy smoke is impacting Western Washington due to fires in Eastern WA
• Winds are increasing out of the gaps, with gusts 20-40 mph as of 9 PM
• PSE currently reports 37,000 customers out as of 9:20 PM
• Fires have closed parts of SR 167, SR 410, SR 512, and SR 161 this evening
• These conditions will continue through the night and into Tuesday morning
• Winds gusting 30-50 mph will continue through morning

In addition, the Red Flag Warning has been extended until Thursday night because dry conditions will continue through this week.

Here is a look at the PSE Outage Map...whole areas of the South Sound are without power. This is more reminiscent of a winter windstorm than a September night.

Winds in the power outage areas haven't been above 40 mph, but trees are fully loaded and that is taking its toll.

I took these 2 pictures below as very heavy smoke settled in to Western WA.

Many people are wondering why this smoke is so bad, and if the wind will blow it away. 

This smoke has moved in from Eastern Washington, where strong winds have fueled explosive, smoke-producing fires. The wind is coming from Eastern WA, so smoke probably won't stop anytime soon. A whopping 300,000 acres of land have burned in Eastern WA today.

Temperatures will continue to be warm, and I'm thinking that due to smoke, temperatures won't fall much tonight. Expect winds to gust 30-50 mph through tomorrow morning.

This blog is short...my power has been flickering and went out for nearly a minute. Winds are quite loud here near Federal Way. If you want more information, feel free to post a comment, though I'm not sure if I'll be able to get back to you.