California storm updates: Thousands still without power, ‘treacherous’ roads, record snow
Snowfall has dwindled and weather conditions are improving, but tens of thousands of homes and businesses remained without power Thursday morning in the frigid Sierra Nevada mountains and foothills after a mammoth winter storm walloped Northern California this week.
Pacific Gas and Electric Co. in an update said outages continued to affect about 80,000 of its customers as of Wednesday evening, while about 157,000 others had power restored between Monday morning and Wednesday afternoon.
More than 18,000 remained without power in El Dorado County and more than 17,000 in Nevada County, according to PG&E’s online outage map, with some of the biggest outages near Placerville, Pollock Pines, Camino, Grass Valley and Nevada City.
PG&E says the extended outages are due to the severity of the storm, which did extensive damage to power equipment and has also made access by repair crews difficult or impossible at times.
The PG&E website did not show estimated restoration times for the vast outages, and the utility company in a news release said it “has been reaching out to customers with updates via phone calls, text messages, social media updates and more, and will continue to provide updated estimated times of restoration as they become available.”
‘Treacherous’ conditions on Sierra highways
Interstate 80 and Highway 50 reopened to traffic earlier this week with chain controls in place, but Caltrans, law enforcement and other authorities have continued to strongly discourage non-essential Sierra travel.
“Some Sierra communities do NOT have power & some gas stations do NOT have gas/fuel so please wait & avoid traveling,” Caltrans District 3 tweeted early Thursday morning.
Nevada Gov. Stephen Sisolak also on Tuesday evening ordered Highway 50 closed at the state line to non-essential traffic, except Nevada residents returning home.
In a video message, Caltrans Director Toks Omishakin said the storm has caused an estimated $22 million in damage.
“We’re strongly recommending that only essential trips happen at this time,” Omishakin said. “If it’s a trip just to hang out with family and friends, we’re saying, ‘Stay off the roads.’ Stay off the roads. The conditions are treacherous.”
Record-breaking snow
The National Weather Service reported several Tahoe-area ski resorts, including Northstar and Palisades Tahoe, have received close to 10 feet of snow since Dec. 21, and many elevations across the central Sierra Nevada range got well over 5 feet.
The UC Berkeley Central Sierra Snow Lab recorded an astonishing 126 inches in the past nine days, according to the weather service. The lab on Wednesday morning reported reaching 210 inches for the month, extending its record for the snowiest December ever observed. The lab, located at Donner pass, broke the previous record of 179, set in 1970, by nearly 3 feet.
Snow also fell to very low elevations this week as a colder system passed through, with flakes or powder reported in cities including Auburn, Placerville, the Butte County town of Magalia and the Wine Country town of Angwin.
Placer, El Dorado and Nevada counties declaring emergency
Placer County has declared a local emergency, and nearby El Dorado and Nevada counties are in the process of doing the same.
Nevada County’s Board of Supervisors has planned a special meeting Thursday afternoon to declare a local emergency, officials said in social media posts.
El Dorado County Sheriff John D’Agostini on Wednesday signed a proclamation of a local emergency, which will be presented to the Board of Supervisors next Tuesday.
D’Agostini’s proclamation said this month’s storms “pose an immediate threat to numerous citizens, roads, facilities, structures, including roadways and water infrastructure.”
Placer County officials on Wednesday evening said more than 10,000 residents remained without power, and that widespread outages are expected for several more days.
“While we have all our local resources committed to this weather incident, this proclamation is a crucial step to making sure that we have access to all additional resources that may be needed,” Placer County emergency services assistant director Dave Atkinson wrote in a statement.
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday ordered the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services to activate the state operations center, to assist and coordinate storm response.
The outages and emergency declarations come amid a continuing cold snap, with nighttime temperatures expected to drop to the low 30s late Thursday and into the 20s Friday and Saturday across the foothills.
The El Dorado County Library in Placerville opened as a warming center Wednesday afternoon and will do so again 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday, with weekend possibilities still being assessed.
Near-freezing overnight temperatures are also forecast in the Sacramento Valley.
The city of Sacramento is opening three weather respite centers and Sacramento County is opening two this weekend for the homeless.
This story was originally published December 30, 2021 at 8:50 AM with the headline "California storm updates: Thousands still without power, ‘treacherous’ roads, record snow."
