Winds knock out power

SANDPOINT — Monday’s windstorm knocked out power for approximately 2,500 customers in the Sandpoint area, according to Avista Utilities.

“The windstorm was certainly working its way through,” utility spokeswoman Laurine Jue said of the strong cold front with winds gusting up to 60 mph.

At the storm’s peak, 18,000 Avista customers throughout northern Idaho and eastern Washington were without power, said Jue. By 7 p.m., linemen had reduced that figure to about 8,800.

Jue said 168 customers in the Sandpoint area were without power at 7 p.m.

Trouble began appearing in the Spokane area at about 9 a.m. By about 2:30 p.m., outages were peaking in the Sandpoint area.

Jue said Avista anticipated the storm and made sure there were ample crews on hand to address the outages.

“We knew that this weather was going to be picking up and that the storm was going to be kicking up,” she said.