Downed power lines close Highway 26 north of Madras as storm, strong winds surge through state
MADRAS, Ore. (KTVZ) – Downed power lines blocked Highway 26 north of Madras Tuesday night as a strong storm surged across the state, bringing winds gusting past 50 mph.
ODOT's TripCheck indicated the downed power lines were on Highway 26 near milepost 116, a mile north of Madras. Motorists were advised to use an alternate route.
Pacific Power’s outage map said the outage was reported around 9:30 p.m. and affected 162 customers. Crews were investigating the cause, and the initial estimate for power to be restored was before 1 a.m. Wednesday.
It was one of several outages scattered around Oregon as the strong storm moved inland Tuesday night. Madras Airport reported winds gusting past 40 mph much of the night and past 50 mph at one point.
Central Oregon began seeing the impacts Tuesday night of the major storm sweeping into the West Coast, with winds gusting past 50 mph in places as rain, snow or a mix continued to fall.
Madras Airport reported a wind gust to 52 mph around 6:30 p.m., while Redmond Airport had a 44 mph gust just before 8 p.m. and Bend Airport a 38 mph gust around 3:15 p.m.
A high wind warning is in effect across much of Central Oregon until 10 a.m. Wednesday for south to southeast winds 30-40 mph and possible gusts up to 60 mph. Forecasters warned damaging winds could topple trees and power lines and make for challenging travel, especially for high-profile vehicles.
Meanwhile, a winter weather advisory is in place until 10 a.m. Wednesday for the east slopes of the Cascades above 3,500 feet. Two to eight inches of snow are expected, possibly 10 inches at higher elevations, along with those winds gusting up to 60 mph.
Early signs of damage or outages late Tuesday were minimal. A tree branch fell onto a power line feeding a transformer for a single residence in Madras around 8 p.m., Police Chief Timothy Plummer said. More residents saw probably a "three-second flicker" earlier in the evening.
