Sultan Storms

SULTAN - As we continue to move further into the school year, the weather starts to change as well.  

The summer weather is long gone now, and even the fall weather is starting to retreat. These last few weeks in Sultan have been cold, wet, and stormy. Not to mention, daylight savings that took effect earlier this month. Put all of those together and what do you get? Classic Washington State weather.  

On Thursday, November 9th, the power went out in Sultan and left all 7th period without any lights or computers to work on. Although the current cause is unknown, or at least not clearly known, it still gives off the idea of what happens during a windstorm, and how disruptive it could be. Luckily, the outage occurred during a shortened 7th period (all classes shortened due to the Veteran’s Day Assembly) and didn’t disrupt the learning during the middle of the day. The Snohomish PUD has responded to many outages due to the windstorms destroying powerlines. 

Just one day ago, at the time of writing, on November 13th, the Snohomish PUD tweeted, “This past weekend was an important reminder that storm season has arrived. Thank you to everyone for their patience during the recent outages” (@SnoPUD on X).  

Although thunderstorms haven’t been a problem yet, windstorms continue to plague cities and towns all throughout the state of Washington. Winds in our region reach around 40-50 mph at the most. While they are seemingly harmless, windstorms are actually just as dangerous as any other type of storm.  

“High winds can cause downed trees and power lines, flying debris and building collapses, which may lead to power outages, transportation disruptions, damage to buildings and vehicles, and injury or death.” (National Weather Service). 

Downed power lines mean power outages. The whole school uses power, and without it, we aren’t able to learn. Also, a power outage means no streetlights, no lights in your house, no heating, and no stores open.  

“Power outages can pose a number of health threats. Without electricity it can be difficult to heat your home or cook safely, keep food refrigerated or obtain drinking water.” (Washington State Department of Health). 

So, because of all of these, let us all thank the Snohomish PUD for their work and persistence in keeping our power running and doing their best to quickly fix outages when they inevitably happen. Their hard work keeps the city running and gives us the necessities that we take for granted. 

The front page of the PUD website literally states, “We’re always working for you. When storms strike, we do our utmost to restore power quickly and safely” (Snohomish PUD Website). 

Works Cited: 

“Home.” Snohomish County PUD, 3 Nov. 2023, www.snopud.com/.  

Response--EPR--1400, Emergency Preparedness and. “Power Outages.” Washington State Department of Health, doh.wa.gov/emergencies/be-prepared-be-safe/power-outages. Accessed 15 Nov. 2023.  

Twitter, Twitter, twitter.com/SnoPUD. Accessed 15 Nov. 2023.  

US Department of Commerce, NOAA. “High Wind Safety Rules.” National Weather Service, NOAA’s National Weather Service, 6 Aug. 2015, www.weather.gov/mlb/seasonal_wind_rules#:~:text=A%20high%20wind%20warning%20is,vehicles%2C%20and%20injury%20or%20death.