Safety

Holiday Lights and Spokane Storms: Wind, Ice, and Power Lines

By Christmas Lights Spokane ·

Two of Spokane's best-remembered storms arrived in November, right in the middle of light-hanging season. The 1996 ice storm coated trees and lines with freezing rain and knocked out power to about 100,000 customers of Washington Water Power, now Avista, at its peak. On November 17, 2015, a windstorm gusted to 71 mph at Spokane International Airport and became the worst storm in Avista's 126-year history, with about 180,000 of its customers in the dark at the peak.

Most Novembers are calmer than that. Still, a display that goes up in late October has to ride out whatever the next two months bring: gusty fronts, wet snow, freezing rain, and a January thaw. This guide covers how wind and ice actually affect holiday lights, what to keep away from the power lines, and what to do after a storm passes. It is general safety information. For anything involving your home's wiring or the utility's equipment, talk to a licensed electrician or Avista.

What wind does to a light display

Wind rarely snaps a well-attached run of lights. It works on the loose ones. A strand that hangs in a long belly between attachment points starts to swing, the swinging works clips loose, and one popped clip puts more load on the next. By morning a section of the roofline is draped across the gutter or the front walk.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission's guidance is simple: fasten outdoor lights securely to trees, house walls, or other firm supports to protect them from wind damage, and use insulated staples or hooks rather than nails or tacks. On a roofline, that means a clip at every bulb or close to it, matched to the surface it holds: shingle tabs, the gutter lip, or the fascia. It also means no long unsupported spans across a gap between a garage and the house.

Trees are the other wind problem. The 2015 storm took down an estimated 28 trees at Riverfront Park and 30 at Comstock Park on the South Hill, according to the National Weather Service. A wrap of mini lights adds little weight, but a weak or dead limb loaded with a garland, a star, or a long cord run to the next tree is a different story. Light the trunk and the sound scaffold branches, and leave the questionable limbs alone.

What ice and wet snow do

Ice is slower and heavier than wind. Freezing rain builds a shell around everything outdoors, cords and bulbs included, and the extra weight pulls on every clip and connection. Wet snow does something similar when it slides off a roof and drags a gutter-line strand down with it.

Two habits help here:

  1. Keep cords off the snow path. Where a roof sheds snow onto a walkway or a lower roof, route the feed cords along the wall rather than across the slide zone.
  2. Never pull a frozen strand free. The CPSC warns against pulling or tugging on lights when removing them, because it stresses the connections and can create a fire hazard. A strand frozen into gutter ice should stay put until it thaws. Our takedown and storage page explains why January removal waits for workable weather.

Keep the display away from the power lines

This is the part that matters most in older Spokane neighborhoods, where many houses still take power from an overhead wire that runs from the pole to a mast on the roof or the side of the house.

  • Leave the service drop and mast alone. The CPSC advises staying away from the power or feeder lines leading from utility poles into older homes. Do not clip lights to that wire, wrap the mast, or run a strand across it. Avista notes that the mast is the homeowner's equipment, and if it is damaged, Avista will shut off power and the homeowner has to hire a licensed electrician to repair it before service is restored.
  • Mind the ladder. Avista's safety guide warns that carrying a ladder, working on the roof, or using long-handled tools can bring you into contact with an overhead line, so look up before you set up. The CPSC adds that metal ladders should not be used near power lines or electrical equipment.
  • Use outdoor-rated gear on protected outlets. The CPSC says to check that outdoor lights are certified for outdoor use and to plug them only into a GFCI-protected receptacle or a portable GFCI. Avista's guide says not to use household extension cords outdoors and not to string two extension cords together.

Ladders deserve their own mention. In CPSC data for November 2016 through January 2017, falls made up 38 percent of the emergency room visits tied to holiday decorating. A ladder on a frosty lawn or an icy driveway in late November is exactly where those falls start.

After a storm passes

Walk the display in daylight once the wind or ice has eased.

Look for anything near a wire first. If a strand, branch, or any line is down near the service drop or the street, Avista's advice is to assume it is energized, stay back at least 50 feet, never try to move it, and call 911 and Avista. Do not go after the lights until the utility says the area is safe.

Check the GFCI. A tripped GFCI after a wet storm is the outlet doing its job. If it will not stay reset once things dry out, find the wet or damaged connection before you try again rather than moving the plug to another outlet.

Replace damaged sets. The CPSC says to check strands for broken or cracked sockets, frayed or bare wires, and loose connections, and to throw out damaged sets. A cracked socket on a roofline in sleet is not worth taping up.

Re-clip the loose runs. A sagging section is the next one to come down in the following storm. Fixing it the day after costs a few minutes; leaving it costs the whole run.

How a full-service install handles storm season

With a professional program, most of this is the installer's job. The lights are measured and cut to the length of each run, clipped to suit your roof, and fed from a planned power layout, and many installers include in-season maintenance, so a storm-damaged section can be repaired by their crew rather than by you on a ladder in the dark. Ask about it when you request a quote. See our residential Christmas lights page for what an install includes, and our booking timeline for how early the season fills.

FAQ

Should I turn my lights off when a windstorm is forecast? Turning them off is a reasonable precaution, and the CPSC already recommends turning off holiday lights when you go to bed or leave the house. A timer handles the daily schedule. Unplug the display if you see damage, and leave anything near a power line to Avista.

Can I hang lights on the wire that runs from the pole to my house? No. That wire and the mast it connects to carry utility power to your home. The CPSC advises staying away from those lines, and if the mast is damaged, Avista will cut power until a licensed electrician repairs it.

My lights froze into the gutter. How do I get them down? Wait for a thaw. Pulling on a frozen strand stresses the connections, which the CPSC warns can create a fire hazard, and working a ladder on ice is how decorating falls happen. Full-service installs usually include takedown, so the installer can handle this on a workable day.

Get a quote

If you want a display in Spokane, Spokane Valley, Liberty Lake, or Mead that is built to stay put through November weather and maintained when it does not, request a free quote. Share a few details about your home, your trees, and the look you have in mind, and we will connect you with a local installer.

Sources

Call Get a Quote