Windy weather disrupts power to thousands across region

Lights flickered and branches swayed Thursday as high winds descended on the Northwest.

Power outages throughout the region were blamed on wind gusts that at times reached 50 mph - the most significant of which cut power to 3,700 residents of Moscow for about 20 minutes Thursday afternoon.

Avista Utilities spokesman Hugh Imhof said crews ran "full blast" throughout the day to restore power cut by downed lines and other issues caused by the high winds. About 130 customers in North Lewiston and as many as 643 customers in Grangeville were without power much of the afternoon. Scattered outages affecting fewer homes were reported throughout north central Idaho and southeastern Washington.

The storm caused trees to fall throughout the region. The most severe damage from the storm came when a falling tree struck two cars on the 700 block of Idaho Street in Moscow. Assistant Moscow Police Chief David Duke said the 1100 block of South Harrison Street was closed because of the possibility of downed trees.

No major problems were reported to law enforcement either in Nez Perce or Asotin counties, or on the Camas Prairie, as a result of the storm.

Forecasters are calling for mostly sunny weather today, with a high temperature near 54 and a southeast wind at 10 mph. The National Weather Service at Spokane says tonight could see partly cloudy skies with a low around 30 degrees and a west wind at 7 mph.

On Saturday, the forecast calls for mostly sunny, with a high near 62 degrees, dropping down to about 41 degrees overnight. On Sunday, the forecast calls for mostly cloudy with a 40 percent chance of showers and a high temperature of 62 degrees. The chance of rain reduces to about 30 percent by Sunday night with an overnight low forecast of 42 degrees.