Snow cuts lines and power in Okanogan County

Utility line crews in Okanogan County were still fixing outages from Monday's storm late Monday afternoon.

In the immediate Grand Coulee Dam area, only a few flakes fluttered here and there, but a bit north it was a different story.

Okanogan County reported at 10:38 a.m. Monday that electric utilities were experiencing small outages around the county, including Nespelem Valley Electric Cooperative.

"It was the heavy, wet snow that was the culprit," NVEC General Manager Kevin Black said Tuesday as his linemen were finishing repairs near Bridgeport to concentrate on the Cameron Lake and Disautel areas. He said up to 150 customers in the far-flung rural cooperative were out of power at the peak of the event.

Black said the utility even had some poles break under the heavy snow.

"The trees were not prepared," said Sheila Corson, spokesperson for Okanogan PUD about the event that quickly dumped from 12 to 20 inches of that heavy snow in many parts of Okanogan County before the leaves could fall, causing branches to break and short out lines, and worse, leaving thousands of customers without power.

About 800 customers were still without power Tuesday afternoon. She said the damage started late Sunday morning. "We've basically been at it ever since," she said, with crews working in shifts through the night.

She noted help came from crews from Winthrop's Okanogan County Electric Co-op and Douglas County PUD.