Rain, wind, and very heavy mountain snow are pummeling Northern California Monday. According to the National Weather Service, the weather is expected to last through Tuesday, with another storm moving in on Wednesday.
Periods of moderate to heavy rain and snow will pass through NorCal today. #CAwx pic.twitter.com/lZ4DtfkR2i
— NWS Sacramento (@NWSSacramento) December 13, 2021
Many in the North State have lost power due to the storm. To learn more about the current situation and the status of outages, NSPR’s Ken Devol spoke Monday afternoon with Paul Moreno, a spokesman for Pacific Gas and Electric Company, about the company’s progress in restoring power and their predictions for the rest of the week.
This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
On the current situation in the North State and what’s expected over the next few days
Early Monday morning we began experiencing power outages in the North Valley, at a peak about 7,500 customers were without power. We’re down to about 4,400 as of midday on Monday. We expect to have most customers restored today who are without power, but as the storm will continue through this evening, we do expect some additional outages on Monday. Fortunately, Tuesday's weather is improving, and with the next storm coming in on Wednesday. So we're going to be busy the next several days, restoring power to customers as quickly and safely as possible.
On whether some areas are more problematic than others in the region
Shasta County was hit particularly hard this morning with several widespread outages throughout the county. In the higher elevation areas where it is snowing, we’re not seeing any outages at this point. So I think it's mostly been in the valley floor because of the gusty winds.
On advice for those experiencing a power outage
If you do have a power outage, you can give us a call at 1-800-743-5002 to report your outage, as well as get updates on your outage status. You can also visit our website pge.com/outages to view the outages in your area, and to get updates, as well by email, text or voice call.
On advice for those anticipating a possible outage
During the stormy weather, you want to make sure you have a flashlight or battery-operated lantern with fresh batteries. We don't recommend using candles because of the fire danger. Try to keep your refrigerator closed as much as possible. And if you have any ice blocks, such as two-liter soda water bottles filled with water, frozen in your fridge, you could transfer those to your refrigerator in case of an outage. And just visit our website or call to get updates on your power outage status.
