Power Failure Leaves Thousands Without AC, Snarls Traffic Around West Yakima

A power failure at about 4:45 p.m. Monday left more than 27,000 Pacific Power customers without lights, traffic controls, air conditioning -- or radio coverage. Crews hope to have everyone reconnected by 8 p.m., though.

No one's clear yet on what caused the problem, but the electricity went out downtown and out into the West Valley area, causing lengthy traffic backups as rush-hour drivers hit the streets and discovered traffic signals had gone black. The outage also affected traffic signals on Highway 12, slowing travel to a crawl in many areas.

As of about 6:15 p.m., Pacific Power had restored power in much of the 98908 ZIP code area, leaving 15,913 customers without power, according to the company's website.

Crews are still working to restore power to all areas.