As Cold, Wet Storm Arrives for the Weekend, PG&E Reminds Customers to Stay Safe, Have a Plan

Electric and Vegetation Crews are on Alert as Heavy Rains and Low-level Snow has the Potential to Cause Outages

After weeks of spring-like weather in much of Northern and Central California, a significant and welcomed cold-weather storm will impact PG&E’s service area from Saturday through Tuesday.

PG&E reminds customers to stay safe and be prepared as the forecast calls for heavy rains and low-level snow.

PG&E’s in-house meteorologists says the cold, wet and unsettled weather will move slowly from north to south over the weekend and into early next week. As with any winter storm, wet and snowy conditions might cause trees, limbs and other debris to fall into power lines, damaging equipment and causing power outages.

The National Weather Service has issued Winter Storm Watches for locations above 2,500 feet in the northern mountains as well as in the northern and central Sierra Nevada. The heaviest rainfall is expected overnight Saturday into Sunday morning. For detailed weather information, visit www.pge.com/weather.

It’s important to note that extreme wind gusts are not expected at this time. That, plus the anticipated precipitation, means PG&E will not be calling a Public Safety Power Shutoff. With wildfire season around the corner, PG&E’s meteorology team will continue to track fuels and long-range forecasts closely.

During storms, PG&E’s meteorology team uses its Storm Outage Prediction Model, which incorporates real-time weather forecasts, historic data and system knowledge to show when and where storm impacts will be most severe. This tool allows PG&E to pre-stage crews and equipment to enable rapid response to storm-related outages.

If outages occur, PG&E crews will safely work around-the-clock to restore power to customers.

Storm safety tips: 

• If you see a downed power line, assume it is energized and extremely dangerous. Do not touch or try to move it—and keep yourself and others away. Call 911 immediately and then notify PG&E at 1-800-743-5002.

• During a power outage, use battery-operated flashlights, and not candles, due to the risk of fire. If you must use candles, keep them away from drapes, lampshades and small children. Do not leave candles unattended.


• Customers with generators should make sure they are properly installed by a licensed electrician in a well-ventilated area. Improperly installed generators pose a significant danger to crews working on power lines.


• If you experience an outage, unplug or turn off all electrical appliances to avoid overloading circuits and to prevent fire hazards when power is restored. Simply leave a single lamp on to alert you when power returns. Turn your appliances back on one at a time when conditions return to normal.

• For the latest information on power restoration, customers can call PG&E’s outage information line at 1-800-743-5002. Updates are also available through our Electric Outage Map online. Customers can also log-in to their account and sign up to receive outage alerts through email, text or phone. Visit www.pge.com/stormsafety for more.