News

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — The National Weather Service said another strong Pacific cyclone will begin to impact the North Coast region on Friday, bringing more winds, high mountain snow, rain and the threat of further flooding.

The agency said that on Friday Northern California will see an abrupt end to the brief intermission in the heavy rain it experienced this week as the cyclone arrives.

“This storm system will bring gusty to strong southerly winds, high elevation snow and a new widespread flooding threat from heavy rainfall on top of already saturated ground,” the forecast said.

The cyclone will be joined by another atmospheric river that will be drawn into the region on
Friday, the forecast said.

During Thursday’s Clearlake City Council meeting, City Manager Alan Flora reported that, overall, the city has fared well during this week’s heavy winter storms.

He said he was very proud of the city’s police and public works departments for their response.

“They always do their best to prepare for winter early,” he said.

Regarding their work on Wednesday, during the height of the storm, “They were all pretty soggy by the time the day was over,” Flora said.

He said the city was having daily briefings with the Lake County Office of Emergency Services and the National Weather Services.

Flora said that another 6 to 8 inches of rain is expected to fall from Saturday through Tuesday.

“Everything is saturated so we’re going to have more localized flooding,” said Flora.

He noted a “marked change” in communication coming from the county, especially referencing County Administrative Officer Susan Parker who he said has been sharing information, which hasn’t always been the case with the county government during emergencies.

Flora said Congressman Mike Thompson’s office also reached out to offer the city assistance.

Across Lake County on Thursday, efforts continued to restore power to thousands of residents who lost their electricity due to the storms.

Road conditions overall were improving as downed trees and lines were cleared.

The California Highway Patrol reported Thursday night that Witter Springs Road remained closed at the bridge and Scotts Valley Road also was closed to flooding.

One area that’s benefiting from the intense rainfall is Clear Lake, which has been at the lowest level since the drought of the 1970s.

Early Friday, the lake was at -0.79 feet Rumsey, the special measure used just for Clear Lake, an improvement of nearly a foot thanks to this week’s rain.

The National Weather Service has issued a hazardous weather outlook for Lake County, predicting that as much as an inch of rain could fall on Friday, with up to 4 inches possible on Saturday, and nearly 2 inches on Sunday.

Rain also is forecast through the first half of next week, with rainfall estimates not yet available.

Temperatures into the middle of next week will hit daytime highs in the low 50s and nighttime lows in the low 40s, based on the forecast.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — Efforts are still underway to restore power to all of the Lake County residents who lost electricity during the midweek atmospheric river storm.

Several thousand Lake County residents were among the more than 500,000 customers whose power was knocked out by the storm, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. said Thursday.

The outages were the result of the atmospheric river storm that arrived on Wednesday, bringing heavy rain that flooded areas already saturated by earlier storms along with winds as high as 100 miles per hour in some parts of the state.

PG&E that during the 24-hour period that ended at 3 p.m. Thursday, it had restored power to more than 406,000 customers.

At that point, there were still approximately 2,300 outages affecting 95,500 customers, with many in the North Coast, Bay Area and Central Coast areas.

The outages in Lake County resulted in Cobb Elementary School being closed on Thursday, school officials reported.

The county of Lake reported Thursday afternoon that there were still 42 outages in Lake County, representing 1,300 total meters, with most associated with the Middletown, Konocti, Lucerne and Hartley (Lakeport-area) substations. There were no estimated times of restoration.

Lake County News was unable to get an update on those specific numbers from PG&E on Thursday night.

However, on Thursday evening, during the Clearlake City Council meeting, City Manager Alan Flora said there were about 2,000 Lake County customers still out of power, of which about 100 to 200 were in the city itself.

He said it was “pretty phenomenal” to see the number of outages across the Bay Area due to the storm.

Later on Thursday night, the PG&E outage map showed the number of outages was dwindling, with the impacted Lake County residents in the hundreds, not thousands.

PG&E said it had mobilized more than 3,000 of its own co-workers, contractors and mutual-aid personnel from Southern California Edison, San Diego Gas & Electric, with help coming from Oregon, New Mexico, Utah and Washington.

“Our crews are out in full force restoring customers safely and as quickly as possible. We are conducting assessments of damage and prioritizing repairs with a focus on critical facilities and resolving outages that are impacting the largest number of customers,” said Janisse Quiñones, PG&E’s senior vice president, electric operations.

The company said hazards such as fallen trees, floods and debris flows have made gaining access difficult in some areas and could delay power restoration efforts.

Incoming storms also could impact the restoration effort and cause more outages, the company said.

“We have a short window of time to make as much progress as we can before the next weather system in this series of storms enters our service area over the weekend,” said Quiñones.

The county also reported that PG&E was asking for help from county residents.

Anyone aware of power lines down on their property or nearby properties, or trees affecting lines on a property, is asked to call 800-743-5002 to report them. Callers are urged to document an address, cross-street or mile post marker.

PG&E said its customers can view real-time outage information at PG&E’s online outage center and search by a specific address, city or county. This site has been updated to include support in 16 languages.

Additionally, customers can sign up for outage notifications by text, email, or phone. PG&E will let customers know the cause of an outage, when crews are on their way, the estimated restoration time and when power has been restored.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — As forecasters had warned, a powerful winter storm brought heavy rain to Lake County and much of California on Wednesday, prompting a statewide emergency and local measures to address flooding and other impacts of the storm.

For Lake County, the National Weather Service has issued a flood watch that’s in effect until 5 p.m. Thursday and a wind advisory until 10 a.m. Thursday, as well as a hazardous weather outlook.

Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday also proclaimed a state of emergency in order to mobilize state agencies to respond to the storm situation developing across the state.

The storm — which forecasters called a “bomb cyclone” and an atmospheric river — dropped heavy rain across Lake County on Wednesday.

The highest rainfall totals were near Lake Pillsbury, at more than 2.6 inches, and the Cobb area, where more than 4 inches were recorded.

With the rain came high winds, which led to downed trees and road hazards across the county.

Road hazards across California led Caltrans on Wednesday morning to activate 1,200 electronic highway signs statewide to display urgent safety messaging.

On Wednesday afternoon, the city of Lakeport closed Library Park until further notice due to fallen tree branches that resulted from the storm.

The city asked people to stay out of the area until a notification is issued for the park’s reopening.

To report falling tree branches in the Library Park or throughout the city of Lakeport, officials asked community members to call Cit Hall at 707-263-5615 or the Lakeport Police Department’s nonemergency line, 707-263-5491.

The storm also led to numerous power outages, particularly across Kelseyville and southern Lake County, where thousands of residents were reported to be without power on Wednesday night.

In Clearlake, the city reported Wednesday evening that a downed tree and power lines had blocked the area of Arrowhead Drive from Covelo Street to Ciwa Street.

Shortly before 10 p.m., the Clearlake Police Department said another downed tree was blocking Austin Drive and Schultz Avenue.

Heavy rain is expected to continue during the day on Thursday, but the National Weather Service said rain and winds are anticipated to ease Thursday night and into Friday.

However, for the North Coast region including Lake County, the forecast shows little respite, with rain and southerly winds expected to begin increasing Friday night through Saturday night from a weaker cyclone forming downstream of highly invigorated jet stream winds over the Pacific.

The National Weather Service said that the impending cyclone and another atmospheric river will fan out over the West Coast this weekend.

Although the weekend storm won’t be as windy as this midweek storm — gusts will be around 30 to 40 miles per hour, not 60 miles per hour — it will bring still more heavy rain.

The forecast says that from Thursday through Saturday night, parts of Lake County could see close to 6.5 inches of rain, and still more rain next week.

The heavy rain has helped Clear Lake start to make up its deficit.

The United States Geological Survey gauge on Clear Lake showed it was -2.18 feet Rumsey, the special measure for the lake, on Dec. 29.

Since then it has begun trending rapidly upward, reaching -1.28 feet Rumsey early Thursday morning.

For information on weather conditions, the National Weather Service forecast can be found here.

Emergency information is posted at https://www.facebook.com/lakesheriff and https://www.facebook.com/LakeCountyOES.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — Wednesday’s stormy conditions led to road closures due to downed trees and utility lines.

The California Highway Patrol’s Clear Lake Area office and other local agencies reported throughout the day about the storm’s impacts on travel.

In addition, the powerful storm that hit the region on Wednesday led to Caltrans activating approximately 1,200 electronic highway signs statewide to display urgent safety messaging.

“Safety is always Caltrans’ priority, so as a violent storm deluges our state, today we activated our electronic message signs to advise everyone to avoid unnecessary travel during the peak of the storm,” said Caltrans Director Tony Tavares. “If travel cannot be postponed, we urge motorists to drive slowly, allow themselves plenty of time and be especially alert.”

In Lake County on Wednesday afternoon and Wednesday night, there were numerous reports of downed trees and lines and blocked roads.

The Lake County Public Works Department reported that Spruce Grove Road Extension near USS Liberty Lane (Quarry Road) in Hidden Valley Lake was closed due to a road slipout and Witter Springs Road near Upper Lake at the bridge, with Bachelor Valley Road to be used as a detour.

Elsewhere on Wednesday night, the CHP reported Highway 175 at Red Hills Road was closed at around 9 p.m. due to multiple downed power lines. That closure later appeared to have been cleared.

There also was a report of a large fallen tree that blocked Soda Bay Road at Crystal Drive at around 10:30 p.m.

Public Works said Bottle Rock Road was closed from Highway 175 to Sawmill Road due to downed trees and power lines. As of 11 p.m., there was no estimated time for reopening and motorists were encouraged to use an alternate route to Cobb.

Just after 4 a.m. Thursday, the Clearlake Police Department issued an advisory for a road hazard at Lakeshore Drive and Old Highway 53, asking people to avoid the area.

Elsewhere around the region, Caltran said late Wednesday that Highway 175 is fully closed at the Highway 101 junction at Hopland in Mendocino County due to flooding.

Updates on road conditions are available at https://www.facebook.com/groups/Lakecountydpw and https://quickmap.dot.ca.gov/.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — Thousands of Lake County residents were out of power on Wednesday and into Thursday as the result of the powerful winter storm hitting the region.

Pacific Gas and Electric Co.’s online outage center included a map that showed many areas of California were impacted by outages as a result of the stormy weather.

In Lake County, small outages ringed the lake. There was an outage impacting 581 customers in Clearlake that began after 8 p.m. and 154 customers in Clearlake Oaks that began at around 6:30 p.m.

But the largest outages were in Kelseyville and south to the Cobb, Hidden Valley Lake and Middletown areas.

Those outages began on Wednesday afternoon and evening, and affected several thousand residents.

As of 3:30 a.m. Thursday, PG&E had not given estimated times of restoration for the Lake County outages.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

As a powerful winter storm descended on California on Wednesday, Gov. Gavin Newsom proclaimed a state of emergency throughout the state.

The emergency proclamation supports emergency relief efforts including authorizing the mobilization of the California National Guard to support disaster response, directing Caltrans to request immediate assistance through the Federal Highway Administration’s Emergency Relief Program to support highway repairs and other support for local response and recovery efforts.

The governor has also activated the State Operations Center to its highest level, and the state and federal government have stood up the Flood Operations Center, which covers forecasting, reservoir operations coordination, and provides technical support as well as flood fighting materials like sandbags for local agencies.

"This state of emergency will allow the state to respond quickly as the storm develops and support local officials in their ongoing response,” Newsom said.

The National Weather Service is forecasting heavy rain and snow, strong wind and the potential for additional flooding threats this week. Officials said residual flooding impacts could extend into the weekend along with additional storms lingering into next week.

The state has prepositioned fire and rescue equipment and personnel to support local resources across the state. Teams will mobilize quickly in the event of mud flows, avalanches or flash floods.

The California Health and Human Services Agency is engaging with local and community partners to ensure vulnerable groups — individuals with disabilities, older individuals, and unsheltered individuals — are aware of conditions and have access to services should they need them.

The California Department of Social Services will work alongside local partners and the American Red Cross to establish congregate shelters, the Department of Public Health will deploy regional staff to support hospitals and health care facilities, the Department of Health Care Access and Information will deploy structural engineers to health care facilities to evaluate impacts to infrastructure and the Emergency Medical Services Authority will deploy ambulance strike teams.

Driving and road closures

Avoid non-essential travel during the peak of the storm on Wednesday night and Thursday morning. If you must drive, download the QuickMap app or visit QuickMap to learn up-to-the-minute information on road conditions, traffic, closures, chain control, and more.

Power outages

Take inventory of the items you need that rely on electricity. Plan for batteries and other alternative power sources to meet your needs if the power goes out such as a portable charger or power bank. Have flashlights for every household member. Determine whether your home phone will work in a power outage and how long battery backup will last.

Emergency alerts

Californians are reminded to dial 2-1-1 or 3-1-1 to get help or ask questions. If you have a critical emergency, call 911.

Staying informed by signing up for emergency alerts including warnings and evacuation notices. Go to www.CalAlerts.org to sign up to receive alerts from your county officials.

Flood risk

If you are under a flood warning:

• Find safe shelter right away.
• Do not walk, swim or drive through flood waters. Turn Around, Don’t Drown!
• Remember, just six inches of moving water can knock you down, and one foot of moving water can sweep your vehicle away.
• Stay off bridges over fast-moving water.

Know your medical needs

Talk to your medical provider about a power outage plan for medical devices powered by electricity and refrigerated medicines. Know how long your medications can be stored at higher temperatures and get specific guidance for any medications that are critical for life.

Generator safety

Portable back-up generators produce the poison gas carbon monoxide, or CO. CO is an odorless, colorless gas that kills without warning. It claims the lives of hundreds of people every year and makes thousands more ill.

Follow these steps to keep your family safe.

When using portable generators:

• Never use a generator inside your home or garage, even if doors and windows are open.
• Only use generators outside, more than 20 feet away from your home, doors, and windows.

CO detectors

• Install battery-operated or battery back-up CO detectors near every sleeping area in your home.
• Check CO detectors regularly to be sure they are functioning properly.

Food storage

• Have enough nonperishable food and water for every member of your household for three days. Open freezers and refrigerators only when necessary. Your refrigerator can keep food cold for four hours. A full freezer will maintain temperature for two days. Use coolers with ice if necessary. Monitor temperatures with a thermometer. Throw out food if temperatures reach 40 degrees or higher.