The rain shadow provided by the Olympic Mountains was a windshield Friday and Saturday as a rugged winter windstorm funneled around the mountains and into the Puget Sound basin.

Communities along the Sound suffered power outages and other weather-related mayhem, while Port Angeles, Sequim and Port Townsend population centers were relatively free of heavy winds.

Some sleet was reported around sundown Saturday in Port Angeles as lowland temperatures dipped toward freezing.

The Olympic Mountains have their best load of snow since last spring, weather forecasters and Olympic National Park officials said.

More precipitation in the form of rain in lower elevations and snow on higher points will continue when another storm front arrives late today, the National Weather Service said Saturday night.

The snow level will fall to 1,000 feet tonight and rise to 3,000 feet Monday, the weather service said.

Periods of rain are expected through New Year’s Day.

None of this week’s fronts is expected to pack the potential power that Friday’s system brought to Western Washington — but avoided the North Olympic Peninsula.

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