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UC Berkeley Central Sierra Snow Lab. (Photo: cssl.berkeley.edu)

48,000 Californians are Without Power in the Sierra Nevadas

Assemblyman Kevin Kiley calls on Governor Newsom to deploy National Guard to help Californians without power

By Katy Grimes, December 30, 2021 1:31 pm

News reports Thursday morning said PG&E announced that 48,000 residents in Northern California living in the Sierra Nevada Mountains region are without power. With more than 202 inches of snow (17+ feet of snow) dumped, a large section of Interstate-80 was closed from Placer County to the Nevada state line, until late Wednesday due to severe snow conditions. Highway 50 was also closed East of Placerville for an extended period so road crews could plow snow and clear downed trees, and utility companies could attend to fallen power lines.

As the Globe reported Monday the 27th, the UC Berkeley Central Sierra Snow Lab announced Monday a “NEW DECEMBER RECORD of  193.7 inches, which is more than 16 feet, and a prediction of breaking the 200 inch mark today. The 200″ record was broken Monday.

Donner Summit sign on I-80. (Photo:facebook.com/chp.truckee)

It’s currently 27 degrees in Twin Bridges near Camp Sacramento along Highway 50, and will dip down to 19 degrees after sunset.

In response to the severe snow conditions and lack of power for so many residents, Assemblyman Kevin Kiley (R-Rocklin) called on Governor Gavin Newsom Thursday to take all possible measures to help Northern Californians without power:

“Tens of thousands of Californians are currently without power and facing severe storm conditions. The situation may not be resolved for as many as two weeks. We need immediate action from the Governor to help Placer and El Dorado County residents, including deployment of the National Guard to provide generators to families until power is restored.”

Kiley also addressed the local emergency announced Wednesday by Placer County, requesting state and federal assistance.

“A record-setting winter storm resulted in unprecedented amounts of snow in the upper elevations of Placer County. Heavy snow and downed trees and utilities have caused extensive road closures, travel complications and damage to infrastructure, including Placer County Water Agency’s Boardman canal. Over 10,000 Placer residents lost power and many will experience an extended outage in the foothills and mountains for several more days.”

Yesterday, Tahoe Weather reported another 8 inches of snow in the last 24 hours.

Today, the U.C. Berkeley Central Sierra Snow Lab announced An additional 2″ of #snow in the last day brings our December total to 212″. Flurries are possible over the next couple days but it’s unlikely that we’ll see much accumulation.

A break in the snow storm is expected through the weekend.

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6 thoughts on “48,000 Californians are Without Power in the Sierra Nevadas

  1. Too bad that most of this snowpack runoff has a high probability of being wasted out to sea by the “Climate Change” promoters that unfortunately run the show in Sacramento….

  2. Could someone explain to me how this works when all of these people have electric cars and use only electricity to heat their homes and cook their food.

    1. John, it’s what Governor Climate Change and President Poop Pants (former Vice President Biden) want for the entire country. They just know so much more than you, I , and the rest of the people do! It’s why they are in charge! We have nothing to worry about!

  3. Mountain-dwellers are pretty self-sufficient providing they’ve stocked firewood, fuel, batteries, generators, food.
    A wellness check, road-clearing, maybe help getting doors and windows cleared to prevent carbon monoxide build-up (17ft of snow?!). It was criminal of California to remove ‘repeaters’ for ham radio operators, that could be only communication in emergency. Kevin Kiley the only one showing concern, requesting action? Not surprised. Maybe he’d get a faster response if he asked for a pop-up vaccine clinic.

    1. Yes it was criminal to remove the repeaters which leaves so many without emergency access. The repeaters didn’t cost the state a penny as they were maintained by users and were mounted on existing power lines and such. So much wrong with what’s being done

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