Thousands of North State residents are without electricity as a winter storm brings heavy snow and gusty winds to the region.
PG&E spokesperson Paul Moreno says outages right now mainly affect customers in higher elevations.
“We are seeing some outages, particularly up in the mountains of Butte County in the Challenge area,” Moreno said. “We do have a couple thousand customers without power up there but we do expect to get them back on tonight.”
More snowfall and gusty winds are forecast across the region over the next few days. Moreno says that means more localized power outages are almost inevitable, and he says lower elevations are forecast to be especially impacted.
That’s because snow levels are expected to drop to as low as 1,000 feet tomorrow, which Moreno says presents an unusual problem.
“Unfortunately when you get snowfall at elevations that aren’t used to snow, tree branches can get loaded up with snow and sometimes break off and impact our power lines,” he said.
Moreno says PG&E expects today and tomorrow to be the most active weather days.
Customers can check for updates on PG&E’s website.
