SEATTLE — The effects of a rapidly developing “bomb cyclone” slammed the Seattle area Tuesday night, killing at least one person and injuring two others as 50-75 mph winds toppled trees across the region.

A woman was killed in Lynnwood when a tree fell into an encampment, according to South County Fire officials.  

South of Seattle, two others were injured when a tree fell into their trailer in Maple Valley, reported Puget Sound Fire. 

One person was freed quickly, but it took firefighters an hour to free the other resident who was trapped in the mangled debris. Both were taken to local hospitals, but their conditions were not given.

2 injured when tree fell onto trailer in Maple Valley, Wash. on Nov. 19, 2024

(Puget Sound Fire)

A driver was struck by a falling tree as they were driving in northeastern Seattle, according to the Seattle Fire Department. That person was freed and listed in stable condition, firefighters said. Crews there said multiple other trees toppled near the intersection.

Wind gusts in the Cascade foothills just east of Seattle reached over 70 mph, fueled by a low pressure center that underwent explosive development in just hours as it swirled off the Washington coast.

Bomb Cyclone Satellite Image

(NOAA)

An estimated more than 600,000 people had lost power across Western Washington as of 11 p.m. PT, according to PowerOutage.US.  Over 110,000 of them were in the city of Seattle.

A wind gust reached 74 mph in the town of Enumclaw before the wind gauge went dark, along with the rest of the town.

“The sound out here is unreal!” said Anthony Concannon. “The wind in the trees and power lines is deafening.”

In Bellevue, the state’s 5th-most populous city, gusts of 52 mph sent firefighters scrambling to assist multiple neighborhoods reporting trees into homes.

“Trees are coming down all over the city & falling onto homes,” Bellevue Fire officials said. “If you can, go to the lowest floor and stay away from windows. Do not go outside if you can avoid it.”

State and local city departments said multiple main highways were blocked by falling trees and power lines, including stretches of busy State Routes 18, 516 and 169. Just before midnight, a tree fell across 4 lanes of Interstate 405 in Bellevue.

Tree falls into home in Issaquah, WA

(Eastside Fire & Rescue)

Advertisement

“There are so many trees and power lines down, we would be posting the locations till the lights turn on,” an exasperated Snohomish Regional Fire & Rescue posted on X.

Easterly gusts reached 59 mph at Sea-Tac Airport, where the rare east winds brought pilots a challenging crosswind to navigate runways aligned for the persistent southerly winds the region normally endures.

Bomb cyclone drops 66 millibars of pressure in 24 hours

The storm was brought about by a historic storm that went from an innocuous low pressure trough to tying the strongest storm ever recorded in that part of the Pacific Ocean. Measurements showed the storm dropped 66 millibars in pressure in 24 hours, eventually becoming a storm with a central pressure of 943 millibars – on par with a major Category 4 hurricane.  It easily qualified for the title of “bomb cyclone”, given when a storm strengthens about 24 millibars in 24 hours.

While the deep center of the storm remained hundreds of miles offshore, the alignment of the storm due west of the Washington Coast combined with cold, dense higher pressure in eastern Washington created a tremendous difference in pressure across the western half of the state.

Tree falls into home in Issaquah, WA

(Eastside Fire & Rescue)

Advertisement

Wind from eastern Washington slammed into the barrier created by the Cascade Mountains, but gaps in the terrain along the mountain passes created breaks in the barrier, allowing winds to accelerate and shoot through the passes like a hole in a balloon.

The winds pummeled towns nestled along the foothills that sit along the highways providing gateways to the popular hiking trails and ski resorts.

As the east winds reached the western edges of the Cascades and broke free of their mountain captors, they raced across the Puget Sound lowlands, bringing rare easterly winds that caught off guard the forested landscapes steeled to the more common southerly winds of the region. The result was widespread tree falls from north to south along the Puget Sound region.

The winds were expected to abate by early Wednesday morning, allowing an extensive cleanup effort to begin. 

There will be changes coming to Seattle Mariners television broadcasts, though what that means for viewers is yet to be known.

According to The Athletic’s Evan Drellich, the Mariners are set to become the eighth team under MLB’s “in-house broadcasting group.”

M’s legends Ichiro, Félix among new names on Baseball HOF ballot

Does this mean TV broadcasts of Mariners games will be available beyond subscribing to a cable provider that includes ROOT Sports? That answer isn’t clear. But it does make the possibility of tuning in Mariners games in a different format more likely than before.

The Mariners have an arrangement “unique to the rest” of the teams under MLB’s broadcasting arm, according to an article by Drellich published Tuesday.

“It’s just complicated because they have distribution agreements that ran longer,” MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said of the Mariners, per Drellich’s article. “We’ll do the production for them, not clear how much more.”

This bit of news was just a small part of a much larger report by Drellich on MLB’s long-term TV broadcasting plans.

Seven other MLB teams will have MLB Media serve as their 2025 television broadcaster, most having come to MLB Media after Diamond Sports Media declared bankruptcy. The league is angling towards new national TV packages in 2028, according to Drellich’s report, and the MLB’s effort to pull that off will only be helped by having as many teams under its own broadcasting umbrella as possible.

ROOT Sports Northwest has been the longtime home of Mariners TV broadcasts. The Mariners initially owned a 71% stake in the regional sports television network beginning in 2013, but has owned 100% of the channel since Jan. 1, 2024.

One change that is known for the Mariners on TV in 2025 is that play-by-play broadcaster Dave Sims will no longer be a part of the announce team after he became the new radio voice of the New York Yankees last week.

Seattle Mariners offseason coverage

• Drayer’s Rebuttal: Why Mariners shouldn’t trade a starting pitcher
• Mariners Odds & Ends: Could Seattle reunite with former prospect?
• What would a Roki Sasaki signing mean for Mariners?
• Drayer: The legacy Dave Sims leaves in Seattle
• Why All-Star Alec Bohm makes sense as a Seattle Mariners target

Follow @BrentStecker

The Seahawks were six-point underdogs to the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday. They trailed most of the game. Yet, in the end, they came out victorious thanks to a few key moments going their way. Here are five turning points in their big win.

10:17 2nd Quarter: Devon Witherspoon deflects a pass from Brody Purdy, Johnathan Hankins intercepts

The Seahawks trailed 7-3 early in the second quarter. The 49ers looked to go on a drive to go up multiple scores. Quarterback Brock Purdy tossed a pass intended for star running back Christian McCaffrey. Seattle’s Pro Bowl cornerback Devon Witherspoon jumped in the way and batted the pass in the air. That allowed nose tackle Johnathan Hankins time to find the ball in the air and come down with the interception, the first of his 12-year career. That stalled the 49ers drive and set the Seahawks up to get a field goal to cut the deficit to one.

3:25 3rd Quarter: Ken Walker III 1-yard touchdown run

Down 10-6, the Seahawks had a chance to take the lead with a touchdown drive. They mounted an 11-play drive that took six minutes and ate up 70 yards. Facing 2nd and Goal from the one, the Seahawks went to a heavy formation and handed the ball off to Ken Walker III. He bowled into the end zone for the go-ahead touchdown.

3:06 4th Quarter: Christian McCaffrey tackled for 1-yard loss

The 49ers were nursing a 17-13 lead and had the ball, following a big defensive stop on 4th and inches against Seattle’s offense. The 49ers had a chance to seal the game with this drive. There was doubt the Seahawks would even get the ball back. Then, the defense stepped up. Perhaps the biggest play of the drive was tacking Christian McCaffrey for a one-yard loss. Coby Bryant came flying in and tackled the All-Pro running back for a loss. That put the 49ers behind the sticks and eventually led to a punt, giving the Seahawks one more chance.

2:07 4th Quarter: Geno Smith completes pass to Jaxon Smith-Njigba for first down on 3rd and 5

The Seahawks took advantage of that chance given to them by the defense. However, they faced a big third down early in the drive. Geno Smith stood tall and fired a bullet to Jaxon Smith-Njigba for the first down to continue the drive. The second-year receiver caught 10 passes for 110 yards on the day, but none were bigger than this catch.

0:18 4th Quarter: Geno Smith runs for 13-yard, go-ahead touchdown

This was arguably one of the top plays of the entire NFL weekend. On second down, the Seahawks had zero timeouts left. Geno Smith could not afford to be tackled in bounds or the game was likely over. Smith scrambled left and found the corner of the endzone for a touchdown. That score gave Seattle a 20-17 lead with under 15 seconds left. It sealed Seattle’s first win over the 49ers since December 2021 and Geno Smith’s first as the quarterback of the Seahawks.

Seahawks’ Olu Oluwatimi, Abraham Lucas Impress in Season Debuts

Jaxon Smith-Njigba Emerging as Budding Star in Seahawks’ Aerial Attack

Ernest Jones, Seahawks’ Defense Flash ‘Special’ Potential in Win vs. 49ers

Seahawks Waive TE Tyler Mabry

Seahawks Bring Back DL Brandon Pili on Practice Squad