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After a weekend of wild and scorching weather, residents of California were warned on Sunday to prepare for the likelihood of power outages until Wednesday.
Over 200,000 PG&E Corp. PCG,
Customers in northern California lost power on Saturday in the state’s first streak of continuous power outages since the 2000-2001 energy crisis, caused by Enron. 200,000 other customers apparently had a reprieve on Sunday evening, because PG&E tweeted that evening outages – usually lasting an hour or two – would not be necessary because demand had to be met.
Vast swathes of California were intentionally blackened last year to reduce the risk of wildfires on days of high winds, but the current blackouts have nothing to do with this. This time around, “there is not enough power to meet the high demands during the heat wave,” the independent operator of the California system said on Sunday. The not-for-profit utility company urged energy conservation for the next few days.
Conditions were exacerbated, Cal ISO said, by the “unexpected loss” of a 470 megawatt power plant on Saturday and a loss of 1,000 megawatts of wind power, as well as a greater reliance on solar power, which can be disturbed by cloud cover.
The power outages came amid an increase in energy use as homes increased air conditioning to counter a widespread and intense heat wave, straining the state’s energy grid even though a many businesses remain closed due to the pandemic.
Triple-digit heat swept through much of the state, topped by a stunning 130-degree reading in Death Valley on Sunday. If confirmed, it would mark the first time Death Valley – historically the hottest place in the country – has reached 130 degrees since 1913, the National Weather Service has said.
In northern California, the heat was accompanied by a rare summer thunderstorm that caused dramatic lightning around San Francisco Bay early Sunday, causing a number of small fires. Wind gusts in some places reached 75 mph.
Almost 5,000 lightning strikes were registered in the state at 6 a.m. Sunday.
“This was possibly the most widespread and violent summer thunderstorm event in memory for the Bay Area, and it was also one of the warmest nights in years,” Daniel Swain tweeted, a UCLA climatologist.
Forecasters said conditions were ripe for a repeat early Monday, potentially sparking more fires.
As lightning-triggered fires around the Bay Area were mopped up on Sunday, larger wildfires continued to rage in other parts of California. The Lake Fire, in the mountains north of Los Angeles, near Lancaster, had burned nearly 28 square miles by Sunday night, with just 12% containment.
Another blaze, dubbed the Loyalton Blaze, near the state line north of Lake Tahoe, burned more than 45 square miles and prompted evacuation orders for remote communities.
That fire triggered the very first warning on Saturday for a “firenado” – an event caused when ground winds whip the flames higher up, in a tornado-like spiral. The National Weather Service has issued a warning for “tornadoes caused by fire” and warned fire crews to use extreme caution.
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