By Sentinel Staff
Despite fierce winds and torrents of rain and hail mixed with thunder and lightning, Sunday night’s storm caused no apparent damage and only limited power outages in Sitka, Fire Department Chief Dave Miller told the Sentinel this morning.
“Nothing. No calls, no damage,” Miller said.
He said that surprised him, as he had anticipated at least damage from downed trees.
“Usually we get a little bit of trees blown down, but we’ve heard nothing,” he said.
Miller believes that Sitkans had enough warning to prepare for the storm – the city issued a warning Friday afternoon that high winds and heavy rain were expected Sunday and advised residents take precautions.
“Everybody had plenty of time to batten down the hatches,” Miller said.
An SUV makes a tremendous splash as it drives through a puddle on Lake Street Sunday morning. A storm front Sunday and Monday morning brought with it torrential rain, thunder, lightning and a power outage. (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson)
The winds peaked at 56 mph at 2:14 p.m. Sunday, coming out of the southeast, Sitka Flight Service Station reported. Rainfall measured about 1.24 inches, NOAA records show.
Power in downtown flickered for a moment in the high winds, but the only outages occurred on outlying islands, the city electric department said.
“There is a power outage on Galankin and surrounding Islands. The Electric Department is working on locating the issue so power can be restored,” Administrative Coordinator Renee Wheat said this morning.
The National Weather Service forecast for the next few days is for winds 10 to 20 mph on Tuesday with rain and patchy fog. Temperatures are expected to reach 62 on Wednesday, and skies are forecast to be partly sunny Thursday but returning to rain on Friday.
