SPOKANE, Wash. — People across eastern Washington and north Idaho got a loud wake-up call in the middle of the night as strong thunderstorms rolled through the area. The storms started rolling through some areas around 10 p.m. on Tuesday night but it was the storms that developed around Spokane between 1 a.m. and 2 a.m. on Wednesday that really got people out of bed.
The National Weather Service in Spokane reported the thunderstorms moved northeast quickly, at speeds of 50 miles per hour. While the storm was quickly moving, it was also incredibly loud.
The storms also knocked out power for thousands of people across the Inland Northwest.
- Avista reported about 1,400 customers without power, as of 5 a.m. The biggest outages were in the west-central Spokane area and Four Lakes. Inland
- Inland Power had about 118 customers without power, mostly north of Cheney.
- Kootenai Electric reported about 2,200 customers without power in the Worley and Plummer area.
By sunrise, most of the energy in the atmosphere had been turned over, so any more thunderstorms should be fewer and far between. By this afternoon the weather should be drier, but partly cloudy, with temperatures topping out around 90 degrees.
Share your videos and photos of the lightning with KREM 2. Click here to upload or text us at 509-448-2000.
To report any power outages contact your local utility provider:
- Avista Utilities outage hotline: 1-800-227-9187 or text OUT to 284-782 or report your outage online or through Avista’s mobile device at www.myavista.com/outage.
- Kootenai Electric Cooperative: 1-877-744-1055 or through Kootenai Electric’s SmartHub app.
- Inland Power and Light outage hotline phone number 877-668-8243
- Vera Water and Power outage hotline call 1-888-774-8272
- Northern Lights in Northern Idaho outage hotline 866-665-4837
- Pend Oreille Public Utility outage hotline 509-447-3137
To check the areas impacted check the following outage maps:
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