Widespread power outages remain, multiple schools closed after powerful Bay Area storm
SAN FRANCISCO – Hundreds of thousands of people across the Bay Area remained without power Monday night, as an atmospheric river storm packing heavy rain and intense wind left behind damage across the region.
Pacific Gas & Electric reported more than 200,000 customers in the Bay Area woke up with no electricity Monday morning. Most of the impacted customers were in the North Bay and South Bay.
PG&E customers without power as of 10 p.m. on 2/5/23:
• San Francisco: 2,365
• Peninsula: 26,854
• North Bay: 40,020
• East Bay: 2,257
• South Bay: 31,373
Total: 94,173
A PG&E spokesperson said since the start of the storm on Sunday, the utility has restored power to approximately 678,000 customers across the system, which serves most of the state from Eureka to Bakersfield. More than 70% had power restored within six hours and 95% within 12 hours.
"The atmospheric river event proved to be far stronger than what models had forecasted. Multiple counties experienced wind gusts exceeding 90mph, including Marin, Santa Clara and Kern counties," PG&E chief operating officer Sumeet Singh said in an update late Monday morning.
"In terms of outage totals, this was one of the top three most damaging, single-day storms on record, only comparable to storms in 1995 and 2008," Singh went on to say.
The utility COO said that more than 3,000 PG&E employees are out assessing damage and making repairs. PG&E said it has also requested mutual aid from out-of-state utilities and is working with Cal Fire, Cal OES and Caltrans to help restore power.
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Also on Monday, nearly two dozen schools in Sonoma County were closed, citing hazardous conditions or power outages. Some closures will continue into Tuesday, the district said.
- Dunham School District (power outage)
- Fort Ross Elementary (damage to school from storm, access issues caused by storm, power outage)
- Harmony Union School District (power outage)
- Kashia School District (power outage and other storm-related issues)
- Twin Hills School District has closed Apple Blossom School, Orchard View School, and Twin Hills Charter Middle School (power outage)
In a statement from the Sonoma County Office of Education, the impacted schools are fully closed Monday, with no virtual or in-person learning. More information is available at SCOE.org.
A power outage closed Cal State East Bay's campus in Hayward, officials said Monday morning.
The university is open remotely, according to officials, who clarified that classes are not canceled. Both Oakland and Concord centers are expected to operate normally for the day.
Meanwhile, in the South Bay, several schools in the East Side Union High School District were closed on Monday. Only two will remain closed on Tuesday.
- Oak Grove High School
- Yerba Buena High School
There were multiple road closures in the North Bay being reported by CHP, with one-way traffic controls on CA-116 in Sebastopol and with the highway completely closed between Martinelli Rd. and Green Valley Rd. in Sonoma County. A downed tree and wires have shut down CA-1 at Bay Hill Road North in Sonoma County in both directions, while downed wires closed CA-121 in both directions between Rose Dr. and Lincoln Ave. in Napa.
In San Mateo County, a downed tree has blocked southbound CA-35 at Bear Gulch Rd. and emergency roadwork has closed CA-84 between Portola Rd and CA-35.
The National Weather Service forecast for the greater San Francisco Bay Area for Monday calls for up to 80 percent chance of rain with patchy fog in some areas during the day, and up to 40 percent chance of rainfall with thunderstorms during the night.
Daytime highs will be mostly in the 50s to lower 60s on the coast and inland, and in the upper 50s on the coast. Overnight lows are expected to be mostly in the upper 40s, with some areas around the bay dropping into the lower 50s.
Forecasters say post-frontal rain showers with a slight chance for thunderstorms will continue into Monday. Rain showers are expected to linger into Tuesday before gradually decreasing from north to south.
The NWS also issued a High Wind Warning for the San Francisco Peninsula Coast, Santa Cruz Mountains, Eastern Santa Clara Hills, East Bay Hills and Northern Monterey Bay that expired at 8 a.m. Monday, while a High Surf Advisory was also in effect for the entire shoreline from Sonoma County down to Monterey County until 4 a.m.
