SACRAMENTO, Calif — ABC10 is following news on the Northern California winter storm. CLICK HERE to get the latest updates on weather and power outages.
PG&E restores power to 90% of customers, still 53,000 in the dark
Crews with the Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) have restored power to more than 90% of its customers who lost power during the winter storm. Still, company officials said there are about 53,000 customers in the dark, Thursday night.
The majority of the repair crews are focusing on the areas that were hardest hit by the storm: Yolo County, Stockton area, the North Coast, Mendocino, and Humboldt County. There is no ETA on when power will be fully restored.
PG&E has asked for mutual aid from other west coast utility companies. They currently have 25 mutual aid crews helping out with another eight expected to join soon, the company said.
Atmospheric river storm drenches California, snow piles high
Evacuations have been ordered in wildfire burn areas prone to mudslides as an atmospheric river storm pumped drenching rains into Southern California, while blizzard conditions buried the Sierra Nevada in snow.
The storm took aim Thursday like a massive firehose at the central coast, where total rainfall over two days neared 14 inches in San Luis Obispo County.
Across the state in the Eastern Sierra, Mammoth Mountain ski resort reported more than 7 feet of new snow on its summit, and blizzard warnings persist along both sides of the California-Nevada border.
Interstate 80 closed from Colfax to Nevada state line
According to a tweet from California Highway Patrol Gold Run, Interstate 80 is closed in both directions from Colfax to the Nevada state line. CHP - Gold Run says the closure is due to multiple spinouts and collisions.
CalTrans District 3 also took to Twitter to share images of the mess on the interstate. The spinouts and collisions caused traffic to stand still in some areas. "We are working to clear the highway," said CalTrans District 3. "But I-80 remains closed between Colfax and the Nevada state line until this is achieved.
SMUD says 9,000 customers are still without power
SMUD continues to work to restore the power to customers after a major winter storm hit Northern California.
According to a tweet from the utility company, 9,000 customers are still without power between 415 outages.
"We understand many are experiencing prolonged outages," said SMUD. "We are working on restoring power as quickly as we can."
Over 65,000 SMUD customers still affected by power outages
Tens of thousands of SMUD customers have had their power restored after high winds caused outages across Northern California.
The utility company currently puts the number of customers without power at 65,222 and says there are still 1026 active outages in the area as of 11 a.m.
PG&E has also restored power to some customers. According to the utility company's outage map, 40,005 customers are without power in Stockton as of 11 a.m., down from 43,624 on Wednesday morning. Other areas like Granite Bay and Woodland have also seen slight decreases in the number of customers affected by outages at this time.
Sacramento area schools thrown another distance learning hurdle with power outages
Due to widespread outages in the Sacramento area, Sacramento City Unified School District said that classes may be delayed while other schools are experiencing full network outages.
The following schools have full network outages at this time:
- Alice Birney
- AM Winn
- Harkness
- John Still
- Leatata Floyd
- Mark Hopkins
- Oak Ridge
- Parkway
- Rosa Parks
The school district is asking students to try logging into their classes if they can.
"If you are experiencing issues connecting with your teacher, please be patient and wait for a communication," a spokesperson for the district said in a news release. "Because some teachers may also be addressing a lack of power or internet, they may also have trouble logging in to begin classes."
Nearly 100,000 SMUD customers without power on Wednesday morning
As powerful wind gusts blow through Northern California, people are reporting downed trees, power issues and increasingly dangerous conditions on Wednesday morning.
Nearly 100,000 Sacramento Municipal Utility District customers are reporting power outages as the major winter storm bears down.
Reports of outages grew overnight, with 99,786 customers currently affected in the Sacramento area, as of 6:30 a.m.. The largest outages are happening in Arden, where just over 32,000 customers are without power.
Pacific Gas & Electric customers are not fairing much better. As of 6:30 a.m., in Stockton, 43,624 customers are without power, with several smaller outages dotted all over San Joaquin Valley. Yolo County customers are also dealing with outages: 4,454 customers are affected in West Sacramento, 8,792 customers are affected in Davis, and 11,428 customers are affected in Woodland.
Though there are few PG&E outages to report in Sacramento due to SMUD's majority control over utilities in the area, Granite Bay is experiencing some outages with 1,541 customers affected and more, smaller shutoffs across the map.
Reports and photos of felled trees from Stockton, Davis, Yuba City, and even up in Butte County have put on display the scope of the major winter storm hitting California.
