January 26, 2021 – PG&E provides update on ongoing restoration efforts from the Mono Wind event, as well as preparations for the coming strong winter storm.

Wind event update

Our crews continue to work on repairing damage from the wind event. In some areas, we are essentially having to rebuild our infrastructure from scratch, particularly near Wawona and Fish Camp.

Currently about 800 customers remain out of power. We have brought in temporary generation to restore many customers, and may install more in the coming days, weather permitting.

For more than 300 of those customers, we are informing them today that they may be out of power until February 3 due to the amount of damage and the extremely challenging conditions.

Much of the damaged equipment was mounted on trees that were toppled or damaged by the winds. We are working with the National Park as well as cultural observers as we plan the most appropriate way to rebuild our infrastructure.

One note, our team is proud of the fact that in the Mariposa area we are using local restaurants to feed the more than 100 crewmembers who have been brought in to assist with repairs. We know that the pandemic has hit many industries, and we appreciate the help of these restaurants to keep our crews fed.

Winter Storm

PG&E meteorologists are forecasting a major winter storm to impact much of PG&E’s service area starting later today through Friday.

The event will include gusty south winds, significant mountain snow and prolonged periods of moderate to heavy rain with cold temperatures.

Significant impacts are expected across PG&E’s service territory due to gusty winds, low snow and prolonged periods of moderate to heavy rain, which has led the National Weather Service to issue multiple watches and warnings across California.

The front will slowly progress into the south half of the territory overnight through Wednesday morning then stall and pivot over the South during the day Wednesday, where it will remain through Thursday.

Winds will be strongest along the coast, across the Bay Area and through the Sacramento and northern San Joaquin Valley reaching 30 – 40 mph with gusts 45 – 55+ mph possible.

Which means this storm has the potential to produce customer outages. Such weather-related outages are NOT Public Safety Power Shutoffs.

PG&E has a plan to respond to potential outages, based on our Storm Outage Prediction Model, which includes staffing crews in these locations to respond to outages safely and as quickly as possible.

We want our customers to have a plan too.

Based PG&E meteorology’s forecasts of flooding in areas recently impacted by fires, we are warning our customers of possible landslides as debris flows are triggered during periods of heavy rain fall.

Slurries of soil, rock and trees could rapidly slide in hillside swales and tributary stream gullies, with potential to run out past the base of slopes.

PG&E’s Geosciences team is performing debris flow modeling analysis of recent wildfire locations and has also deployed Specialists to Central Coast and Yosemite Divisions to perform a pre-assessment and provided recommendations for restoration teams in the field on the potential risk for those areas.

The Geosciences team monitors developing weather forecasts and measured rainfall to provide updates on hazard and decisions for making Watch or Warning notifications. 

We want our customers to be prepared for possible landslides and stay informed for local agency and National Weather Service/NOAA/CALFIRE notifications and evacuation messages.

If you suspect imminent danger, evacuate the area immediately.

Source: PG&E