Severe thunderstorms knock out power, close schools, spark brush fires across NCW

Severe thunderstorms that swept through North Central Washington on Thursday night left thousands without power, forced the closure of Moses Lake schools and sparked multiple brush fires across the region.

Thunderstorms moving through North Central Washington from Thursday night into Friday brought lightning, heavy rain and strong winds to several counties, causing widespread power outages in Grant County and igniting brush fires in Chelan and Okanogan counties.

Temperatures in Wenatchee dropped about 30 degrees, falling from 93 degrees before 5 p.m. Thursday to the low 60s overnight, according to the National Weather Service. Wind speeds increased shortly after 6 p.m. to about 22 mph and reached 41 mph at 12:35 a.m. Friday. Wind gusts peaked at 49 mph at 10:19 p.m.

Grant County PUD posted on Facebook around 10 p.m. Thursday about the initial outages affecting multiple locations throughout the county. As of 5:40 a.m. Friday, about 6,000 customers remained without power. By 11:30 a.m., that number had fallen to about 1,150.

"We have a list of more than 100 locations with outages that are affecting less than 50 customers," the PUD said on Facebook. "Our crews will stay on the job repairing the damage and restoring power until all customers are energized."

The outages prompted the Moses Lake School District to cancel classes Friday. The district said on Facebook that several schools were without power.

The storm also sparked a brush fire near Highway 97A around 10 p.m. Thursday. Chelan Fire and Rescue responded to the fire, which started near the Chelan Airport area and quickly spread uphill amid strong winds estimated at up to 60 mph, according to Chief Brandon Asher.

By the time crews arrived, the fire had grown to more than 3 acres.

Asher said heavy rain moved into the area within minutes, helping crews stop the fire's spread before it threatened structures or prompted evacuations.

Additional crews from Manson and Douglas County Fire District 4 assisted with the response, and firefighters had cleared most storm-related calls by about midnight, Asher said.

Dispatchers also received reports of several additional incidents, including three small brush fires in Chelan Falls, another brush fire near Vin du Lac Winery, downed trees and pole fires.

The smaller fires were each less than an acre, Asher said.

In Okanogan County, the Brewster Fire Department responded to a brush fire on the outskirts of Brewster, according to Chief Dyan Gamble.

Gamble said the call came in around 10:20 p.m., and the fire burned about 45 acres.

Level 1 evacuations, meaning residents should be ready, and Level 3 evacuations, meaning leave immediately, were issued in parts of Brewster as the fire spread. Gamble said no structures were lost and no injuries were reported. All evacuation orders were lifted by 9 a.m. Friday, according to Okanogan County officials.

Gamble said crews had the fire contained by 1:30 a.m.

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This story was originally published May 29, 2026 at 8:45 PM.