Editor’s note: The following story was inadvertently omitted from last Thursday’s edition that included a countdown of 2016’s top 10 news stories in Tooele County. This story was ranked #10.
A pair of high-energy storms that packed hurricane-force gusts tore through Tooele County during 2016, causing power outages and property damage.
The first storm hit overnight and through the early morning of Feb. 18 when a large cold front blew in. Northeast Tooele County experienced gusts of over 70 mph around 3 a.m., with strong gusts in the upper 40s and lower 50s in miles per hour, according to the National Weather Service.
At Lake Point, wind gusts in excess of 60 mph were recorded, as well as an isolated, unverified gust of over 80 mph. According to the Saffir-Simpson Scale, Category One hurricanes have sustained winds of 74-95 mph.
The strong winds took down four 30-40 foot-tall pine trees in the Tooele City Cemetery. Gusts also moved some smaller structures in the city, including a carport on 880 East near the intersection with Droubay Road. It knocked down mailboxes before coming to rest against a neighbor’s home.
As the cold front rolled through Tooele and Stansbury Park around 11 a.m., it brought strong winds, hail, lightning and thunder. Power lines near Stansbury High School were knocked down as a result of the storm system, according to Tooele County dispatch.
Power outages occurred throughout Tooele County, including about 2,900 customers losing power around 3:46 a.m. when two circuits at a substation were affected by the storm, according to a Rocky Mountain Power spokesman. While most customers in the county had power restored by 7 a.m., there were still 1,700 without power around 8 a.m. on Feb. 18.
The power outage also affected the Tooele County Dispatch Center, which lost power around 3:40 a.m., according to Tooele County Sheriff Paul Wimmer. The backup generator for the dispatch center failed to start due to a circuit board that caused uninterrupted power supply, which bridges the gap until the generator fires up, to fail after running longer than it is designed.
While the power was down in the county’s dispatch center, 911 calls were rerouted to the Utah Valley Dispatch Special Service District, Wimmer said. The dispatch center was back in service and receiving calls by 7:45 a.m., according to Wimmer.
Despite the outage, the county’s microwave radio system remained online so dispatchers were able to communicate with first responders who were busy with wind-related emergencies, according to county emergency services director Bucky Whitehouse.
The second storm hit the county on Oct. 2 with high winds that resulted in more power outages and property damage, most of which were caused by a downed power line that got caught by a train.
The power line was knocked down onto railroad tracks east of Droubay Road by the storm and the line was snagged by a passing train, according to Ryan Willden, North Tooele Fire District public information officer. After the train caught the power line, it dragged it along the ground and snapped at least 25 power poles along Bates Canyon Road.
The damaged power poles were all wood and the destruction eventually stopped at a galvanized steel pole at the substation on Bates Canyon Road, Willden said. Witnesses reported a flash of light when the train first collided with fallen power line, he said.
More than 4,000 customers were without power the evening of Oct. 2 as a result of the downed power poles, according to Rocky Mountain Power. The power company updated the number of customers without power to 77 by Oct. 3 as crews worked to replace the damaged and downed power poles along Bates Canyon Road.
Power to affected areas was mainly restored through a redirection of power from a different substation, Rocky Mountain Power said. Customers in Erda, Lake Point and Stansbury Park were encouraged to conserve electricity and avoid using large appliances like dryers, washing machines and electric ranges to prevent rolling blackouts in the area through Oct. 5.
According to Rocky Mountain Power, power was restored to all but four customers by 3 p.m. on Oct. 3. Those customers included a residence, two businesses and a railroad building. Yet, work to power lines on newly installed power poles was expected to extend into Oct. 5.
Due to the power outage, the Tooele County School District closed Stansbury High School, Rose Springs Elementary and Stansbury Park Elementary on Oct. 3. The district also excused students living in the affected area that attend other schools, according to a news release from the district. All of the schools reopened on Oct. 4.
Final estimates from Rocky Mountain Power said the snagged line pulled down 27 power poles and damaged 60,000 feet — or nearly 11 miles — of transmission wire.
Editor David Bern compiled this report.