Tropical Storm-Force Winds Downed Lines, Left Thousands Without Power in the Portland Area This Weekend

For the second time in less the a month, Portland was hit with tropical storm-force winds.

Related: Portland Experienced Tropical Storm-Force Winds Atop the Fremont Bridge Last Night

According to the National Weather Service Portland, gusts near Swan Island reached 60 mph on Saturday night. In other areas—such as the Oregon Zoo, Forest Grove, West Linn, and the airport—wind speeds topped 50 mph.

Wind speeds in the 39-73 mph range are considered tropical storm force, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

At Timberline ski resort on Mount Hood, 91 mph gales were the fastest of any site in Oregon on Saturday night. (Hurricanes are classified as storms with sustained winds over 74 mph.)

The statewide windstorm was too brief to be considered a serious weather event, but the powerful gusts did do serious damage to power lines around Portland and neighboring cities.

By Sunday morning, a Tweet from Portland General Electric notes, there were around 150 down power lines around the city and roughly 11,000 people were without power.

North of Portland, in Clark County, sparks from failed breakers illuminated the Saturday night sky, leaving upwards of 100,000 residents without power.

And in Seattle, outages reportedly left nearly 50,000 people without power.

All but a few of those outages appear to have been resolved in the Portland area, and recreationalists can thank the storm for dumping 10 inches of snow on Mount Hood over the weekend.