A tree below the St. Mark’s greenbelt fell across lanes of northbound I-5 Monday night as soaked soil and winds conspired to create a late-night back-up while crews cleaned up the debris. The tree fell onto lanes of I-5 just before the Lakeview Blvd off-ramp. KIRO has details of the incident here:
Crews worked for more than three hours to clear all of the debris.
A snow plow helped push branches off the freeway as WSDOT workers used chain saws to cut the tree apart.
The tree did not hit any cars and no one was hurt, but the backup stretched up to a mile before midnight.
Meanwhile, the National weather service has issued one of their famous Special Weather Statements:
…STRONG THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE ACROSS THE LOWLANDS OF
WESTERN WASHINGTON TODAY…
A DISTURBANCE MOVING AROUND A DEEP UPPER LEVEL LOW PRESSURE
SYSTEM IN THE NORTHEAST PACIFIC WILL MOVE ONTO THE COAST AROUND
830 AM THIS MORNING AND REACH THE INTERIOR LOWLANDS BETWEEN 930 AM
AND NOON.
THE AIR MASS IS COLD AND UNSTABLE AND THERE WILL BE A GOOD DEAL OF
WIND SHEAR ALOFT AS THIS DISTURBANCE MOVES THROUGH THE AREA. THIS
COMBINATION SUPPORTS THE FORMATION OF STRONG AND ROTATING
THUNDERSTORMS THAT MAY PRODUCE COLD-AIR FUNNEL CLOUDS…SMALL
HAIL…AND WIND GUSTS TO 45 MPH.
COLD AND UNSTABLE AIR WILL CONTINUE TO STREAM INTO THE AREA THIS
AFTERNOON AND THIS EVENING. THERE IS A POTENTIAL FOR ADDITIONAL
STRONG THUNDERSTORMS BEHIND THE INITIAL MORNING IMPULSE.
