Weather Advisories and Power Outages as Storm Front Impacts the North Coast

A warm, powerful front struck the North Coast in the early morning hours with south winds gusting up to sixty-five mph over higher elevations. Due to the high winds, a wind advisory has been issued, in addition to high surf and coastal flooding advisories.

The National Weather Service in Eureka has issued a wind advisory that will remain in effect until 4 p.m. today due to south winds from 25 to 35 mph, gusting up to 55 mph and gusts possible up to 65 mph over higher elevations. The Del Norte coast and interior, as well as the northern Humboldt coast and interior, as well as the interior Southern Humboldt regions are under the advisory. Residents are encouraged to drive carefully and secure outside objects.

The northern Humboldt coastal region and Del Norte coast is under a flood advisory from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. The combination of winds and high tide will impact the Humboldt Bay area. NWS states, “High astronomical tides will cause minor flooding in low lying areas along Humboldt Bay. Up to one quarter foot of saltwater inundation above ground level is possible in low lying areas near shorelines and tidal waterways.”

The high surf is anticipated to cause flooding Jackson Ranch Road in the Arcata Bottoms and low-lying roads in King Salmon.

The high surf advisory for the Del Norte, Humboldt, and Mendocino coasts will follow this evening from 8 p.m. until 8 a.m. on December 28. Breaking waves can be between 28 to 32 feet. Residents are warned of large, erratic, and unpredictable waves with increased “run-up” on beaches, along with the potential for waves to wash over jetties. The NWS cautions, “[L]arge waves will be capable of sweeping people into the frigid and turbulent ocean water. Mariners traversing the bar are urged to exercise extreme caution or stay in port until the threat subsides.”

Power Outages

Some 1500 plus households are experiencing power outages this morning, most likely due to the storm impacts. Below, we have listed the details and estimated times of power restoration for the areas impacted:

Highway 36 corridor from Carlotta to the Grizzly Creek Campground

Two power outages have been reported in this area. PG&E reports there are 111 customers in the western portion of the outage area who lost power around 4:04 a.m. Around 395 customers are experiencing a power outage in the eastern portion of the outage area, beginning at 3:57 a.m. The estimated time for power restoration for all of the customers is 10:15 a.m.

 

Tompkins Hill and north of Loleta

PG&E customers along Tompkins Hill Road and north of Loleta lost power at 2:58 a.m. The 195 customers impacted by the outage are expected to have power restored around 11 a.m. Around 9:05 a.m. scanner traffic indicated that Loleta Fire was responding to the report of a downed PG&E line. At this time, it is unknown if this is the cause of the current outage or if this was a subsequent issue within the same area.

Eureka & Samoa 

Three outages in the Eureka and Samoa area have impacted a total of 20 customers. The ten customers in Eureka should see power restored before 10 a.m. while the ten customers on the Samoa peninsula have an estimated time of restoral at noon.

Fickle Hill Road area

At 5:42 a.m., 163 PG&E customers in the Fickle Hill Road area lost power. At this time, PG&E estimates power will be restored by 9:45 a.m.

Trinidad


Trinidad had the largest group of PG&E customers experiencing outages with 577 households losing power around 3:55 a.m. Those in the coastal town are not expected to have power restored until 2 p.m. today.

Salyer

Residents to the north and south of Highway 299 near Salyer have been without power since 8:20 p.m. on December 26. The 49 households impacted by the outage are not anticipated to have their service restored until 8 p.m. tonight.

Unlike the other outage causes that were either under investigation or attributed to weather, the outage impacted those in eastern Humboldt was reportedly caused from an equipment failure issue.

Update 10:53 a.m.: The wind advisory has been extended until 7 p.m. on December 27.

Update 1:27 p.m.: PG&E crews have restored power to all but a few customers in the Eel River Valley and Northern Humboldt. According to the PG&E website, there are currently 13 customers without power in Trinidad, 4 in McKinleyville, and 1 residence in each Fortuna, Arcata, and Jacoby Creek.

The 49 customers in the Salyer area are still in the dark with an estimated power restoration time of 8 p.m. this evening.

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tru matters
Guest
tru matters
3 months ago

We got a good half inch of rain here along the coast and still windy.

NoBody
Guest
NoBody
3 months ago

“… reportedly caused from an equipment failure issue.“

PG&Es reporting issue sucks to say the least. An equipment failure can be anything – a downed line, broken poll, blown transformer. ANYTHING. When you call the outage line it will say it’s caused by the weather. NOOO, REALLY? Why can’t they just say a line is broken because of a downed tree. Or a poll broke because someone ram into it. Why must they be so vague? Or my favorite is “PG&E personnel are on site investigating the cause”. How long does it take to investigate a downed line to determine the cause? I’ve gone without power for days while they were “investigating”.

HotCoffee
Guest
HotCoffee
3 months ago
Reply to  NoBody

I agree, PG&E messaging is abysmal. It’s also annoying to listen 5 minutes of being told to go online when you’re calling because you can’t go online due to your power being out.The length of time before the next update is also beyond frustrating.

Last edited 3 months ago
NoBody
Guest
NoBody
3 months ago
Reply to  HotCoffee

Yes, I forgot about that one. LOL
Or how about when they call letting you know that power was restored? Really?!?! … is that why my lights suddenly came on?

Last edited 3 months ago
HotCoffee
Guest
HotCoffee
3 months ago
Reply to  NoBody

LOL, well hopefully ………………….
Hopefully this year if there’s a major snow event we’ll be better prepared, and not fighting over whether to look for and feed humans or animals.
Get ready now and …………..
DO both!

Last edited 3 months ago
Guest
Guest
Guest
3 months ago
Reply to  HotCoffee

Good advice. Last year was awful plus that earthquake, right? I do get annoyed with the whiney comments so thanks for the sensible one.

Inquiring Mind
Guest
Inquiring Mind
3 months ago
Reply to  NoBody

The notification that power has been restored can be very helpful if people relocate temporarily during outages. If it’s very cold, we move out to our travel trailer where we can fire up a generator and have power for heat. Since our travel trailer is not at our home, the notification that power has been restored at my home is very helpful.

Humboldt
Member
Humboldt
2 months ago
Reply to  Inquiring Mind

Yes. This year, PGE installed a new meter for me that has a power line to my generator.
It switches the input from the grid to the generator.
There is a little light on the meter that shows when power is restored, and I can turn off the generator, but I must go outside and look at the meter to know.
The phone call is a good reminder to let me know power is restored and I can turn off the generator.

By the way, those meters, with an automatic switch, are available from PGE for FREE to those in high wind areas and in wild fire areas. Including installation, which would cost a bundle if one hired an electrician.

Call PGE/Back up power Division to apply.

Guest
Guest
Guest
3 months ago
Reply to  HotCoffee

If you have a cell phone, you can go online. Due to having removed the batteries from a smoke detector (the one that county code compliance insisted be placed at a height of 16ft up a wall) , the symphony of discharging squealing capacitors wakes me when power fails. It’s routine to grab my cellphone to check if it’s been reported. It usually has not so the site asks me if I want to report. So I do and ask for text updates.

https://pgealerts.alerts.pge.com/outagecenter/

NoBody
Guest
NoBody
3 months ago
Reply to  Guest

Zero cell signal just like many others. Need to drive for 20 mins to get a signal. Must use Wifi calling which requires power for the router.

HotCoffee
Guest
HotCoffee
3 months ago
Reply to  NoBody

Same here.

HotCoffee
Guest
HotCoffee
3 months ago
Reply to  Guest

No cell phone service here, I have to travel 20 miles one way before I can latch on to a cell tower or Wi-Fi.

Humboldt
Member
Humboldt
2 months ago
Reply to  HotCoffee

Exactly!
My peeve, exactly.
I always look in amazement when I report a power outage and they say to go online.
How?
I guess via cellphone, but, often, those towers are also out…
It’s frustrating.

Humboldt
Member
Humboldt
2 months ago
Reply to  HotCoffee

The other one is calling the internet company because the internet is down and they tell you to check their status online…
Catch 22.

treeman53
Member
treeman53
3 months ago
Reply to  NoBody

I spent years in the past trimmimg trees around PG&Es lines,and sometimes you can have a tree on a tranny line or a long
span that takes the troubleshooter time to find and then to get a crew out their with a line truck
I’ve always appreciated those guys out there at night climbing poles in the rain or the tree guys cutting trees off the lines

NoBody
Guest
NoBody
3 months ago
Reply to  treeman53

In years past that may be true, but now they have sensors every so often that detects a fault in the line and immediately cuts power which is then relayed back to wherever.
I respect those guys too for doing a dangerous job in the worst of conditions but their vagueness of the problem leaves something to be desired. I’ve literally been on their automated phone system trying to find out when power will be restored only to hear that “PG&E personnel are on site investigating the root cause of the issue” and the power magically comes back on after it being out for 20+ hrs. 🙄

Guest
Guest
Guest
3 months ago
Reply to  treeman53

I do too.

Spanky
Guest
Spanky
2 months ago

Stay away from the Humboldt Bay entrance until Sunday, please. As a licensed boat captain with over 45 years experience I implore you to stay in Port unless you absolutely have to exit the harbor. Sunday looks like a better choice. Be safe and hoist one in the comfort of your home. New Years Eve is amateur night, my friends!😎✌️❤️☯️