10:51 AM: Thanks for the tips. A power outage has taken out more than 3,200 customers, mostly in northeast West Seattle, though also stretching southward toward High Point. Updates to come.

10:59 AM: No word yet on the cause of this. If you’re hearing sirens/seeing fire trucks, note that outages sometimes trigger automatic fire alarms, and that’s happened in at least two places so far. Note that much if not all of the Admiral business district is in the outage zone – also some signalized intersections (which become all-way stops when the signal’s dark).

11:42 AM: The southernmost stretch of the outage has been restored – so it’s down to just under 2,000 customers. Here’s the updated outage map:

12:35 PM: No change since then, and we’re still awaiting SCL’s response on the cause. Meantime, WSB’s Aspen Anderson is checking on the Admiral District and confirms commenter report that Metropolitan Market is closed:

Admiral Starbucks is among the other businesses without power. Traffic signals too.

(WSB photos)

12:47 PM: Also out, Aspen reports, is the Admiral Bartell Drugs. And as mentioned in comments, West Seattle (Admiral) Library continues using paper slips like this to check people out:

However, the libary computers are not working, nor other equipment. But they say they lose power once a year so they have this system in place — but they are trying to stay open as long as possible. … Mud Bay is open and checking people out with a handheld credit-card device.

12:54 PM: Another 300 customers just got power back. … That includes Admiral Safeway, where, Aspen report, the “produce/cold drink sections closed right before the power went back on — they are giving produce a minute to come back to temperature.”

1:04 PM: Now all are back on; we’ve confirmed the Admiral District is back. Aspen says Metropolitan Market tells her they’ll stay closed an hour or so more, to be sure temperatures are all in “safe zones.”

ADDED MONDAY EVENING: Regarding the cause, an SCL spokesperson tells WSB, “It was not related to the planned outage in the adjacent area. Our systems operations center said that there was a mainstem cable on the feeder that failed.” (We’ve requested a bit more explanation, such as where this cable is/was.)

ADDED TUESDAY MORNING: To that question, SCL spokesperson Jenn Strang responded, “The main issue occurred in the vicinity of SW Admiral Wy and SW City View St.”

10:22 AM: Seattle Fire is responding to a gas leak in the 4100 block of 38th SW [vicinity map]. Updates to come.

10:28 AM: The response has been downsized – most units have been dismissed.

(WSB photo)

10:35 AM: A WSB team member at the scene says Puget Sound Energy has arrived.

11 AM: Our team member confirms all SFD crews have left.

11:41 AM: Reviewing audio from the response, this originally was reported as a leak inside a home, with a strong smell of natural gas in the basement, but firefighters weren’t able to confirm a leak, and left as PSE investigated further.

8:01 AM: Thanks for the tip. 100+ homes are out in south Arbor Heights/Seola Beach, after a loud explosion-type sound around 7:20. As noted in the traffic/weather roundup, the wind alert is now extended to 1 pm.

11:54 AM: Still out.

1:05 PM: The SCL map now attributes the outage to “tree/vegetation.” Still the only outage of note in West Seattle, and the number of people affected by outages today throughout SCL’s entire service area has remained in triple digits.

Multiple readers have texted with the news that Xfinity is out in North Admiral for between 100 and 500 customers, citing “network damage.” The company’s hoping to have it back on by late morning, but with, for example, the Seahawks vs. Vikings game coming up at 1 pm, you might want to have a backup viewing plan.

11:29 AM: Per comment and text, service is back.

8:14 PM: Thanks for all the tips. Seattle City Light‘s outage map confirms an outage affecting almost 5,000 customers in mostly northwest West Seattle. 911 log shows a “transformer fire” in the 4100 block of Beach Drive SW.

8:21 PM: Emergency-radio traffic suggests the problem is on a “private dead-end street” and that City Light has a crew on the way.

8:33 PM: To recap some important outage-related info – for one, the “estimated restoration time” is just a guess, could be lots earlier or lots later. In case of the latter, don’t open the refrigerator or freezer – your food will last longer.

8:51 PM: Power’s back on for many, if not all. (The City Light map hasn’t caught up yet so we won’t know for a bit if it’s entirely resolved.)

8:55 PM: First map update says it’s down to 3,100 out.

9:39 PM: Above, for the record, is the current map of who’s out. And below, WSB contributor Christopher Boffoli‘s photos of the tree trouble that’s to blame – it’s near Aikins/Boyd in South Alki:

10:10 PM: Christopher spoke to City Light workers at the scene who told him those who are still out may remain out into Friday, as it is a complicated repair, with three poles affected, and tricky access on the steep site. Meantime, we just got photos from the Aikins side of the downed tree (thanks, Evie!) – in the first photo there’s a crushed car (no one hurt):

10:45 PM: According to commenters, more just got power back. Now 1,749 out, per SCL map.

12:24 AM: Those 1,749 are still out, per SCL map.

6 AM: All but 160 are reconnected.

6:03 PM: After 22 hours, 146 people are still out.

12:56 PM: Liza reports brown water in The Junction. No incidents on the water-trouble map, so it might be flushing. If it happens to you, always be sure to report it to Seattle Public Utilities‘ 24-hour hotline, 206-386-1800.

1:15 PM: Liza says SPU tells her it was indeed SFD line-flushing.

Our photo shows work – with traffic flagging – continuing today on the Puget Sound Energy gas-pipeline project on the south end of Beach Drive SW. A commenter recently asked for a progress report, so we asked PSE after the holiday weekend. A spokesperson tells WSB, “Construction on the upgraded natural gas system will be finished mid-January 2025.” The commenter also wondered about restoration on the patched and plated cuts in the road; here’s what PSE tells us about that: “Due to weather, the final restoration will happen in April 2025. Once done, there will be updated ADA ramps, restriping of the fog and yellow centerline and road improvements, along with the updated natural-gas system.” Work started more than half a year ago, two years later than originally planned because of what PSE attributed to permitting delays. The work (shown in section-by-section detail here) was originally projected to be done by now.

Saturday morning, dozens of homes lost power for hours near Fairmount Playfield. Today we followed up with Seattle City Light to see what caused the outage. SCL spokesperson Jenn Strang replied, “A raccoon.” (Wildlife-related outages are not unusual, but more often it’s a bird on the wire than a mammal.)

5:50 AM: Thanks for the texted tip. Seattle City Light is investigating an outage affecting more than 30 homes in the Fairmount Park area. Our texter says a loud boom was heard right before the power went out near 38th/Hudson.

9:03 AM: Power’s been restored.

10:38 AM: … but not for everyone, per commenters and the SCL map.

Thanks to AKM for the report, confirmed by the Seattle Public Utilities water-problem map:

There is an emergency water outage in Arbor Heights on 40th Avenue SW that impacts about 60 people. I noticed no water pressure at my house about 1 hour ago and called Seattle Public Utilities and later checked the SPU outage map, and both sources (human and Internet) confirmed that we are experiencing an emergency water outage. The location of the outage, according to the SPU outage map, is 10218 40TH AVE SW. This is where an old house was torn down and new construction on a small multi-family project has been under way. Another neighbor went down there and also said there is where the water repair is in progress. SPU advised that we not turn on any of the appliances and also not flush the toilets until this problem has been resolved.

Thanks to Saben for the photo and report:

Someone has cut the grounding wires to some power poles in Alki along 60th Ave SW. Not sure of how widespread the problem may or may not be, but the three closest to my house were all cut. You can see by the pic that they also bent/cut the metal guard protecting the wire so this was intentional and thought the community should be aware.

You can report vandalism to Seattle City Light at 206-684-3000.

Texter reports brown water in the Arroyos/Arbor Heights area. Nothing on the Seattle Public Utilities water-outage map. Any time this happens, be sure to report it to SPU at 206-386-1800 (and let us know too).

11:23 AM: If you have brown water in the Beach Drive or Seaview area this morning, this could be to blame. Water is still flowing – though not in a big way – this morning on and from the vicinity of 5966 Beach Drive SW [map], where a break was reported overnight (thanks to Peter for the tip). The Seattle Public Utilities water-trouble map says almost 60 homes were affected.

2:16 PM: SPU spokesperson Brad Wong tells us repairs were completed and service restored just before 2 pm.

12:54 PM: Verizon customers in multiple states have been reporting service interruptions today. At least some are in West Seattle – reader Katie told us via email that she had been out since 7:45 am and others in her neighborhood’s online group reported the same. It’s not universal – our hotline (for which we use Verizon mobile service) is still working – but the outage is believed to be affecting thousands. Verizon says only that they’re working on it; the FCC says it’s aware too.

2:17 PM: Update from Verizon – “Verizon engineers are making progress on our network issue and service has started to be restored.”

A building in the 3000 block of Alki Avenue SW is experiencing brown water, we’re told by its management. They’ve contacted Seattle Public Utilities – which you always want to do if this happens, 206-386-1800 – and so far they don’t know the cause. (It’s often nearby hydrant testing by Seattle Fire, but it can also be first word of a water break or other problem nearby – unusual activity in a water line stirs up “sediment,” mostly rust, and that leads to the discoloration.)