Update: Power Outages Widespread In Mother Lode

You can read an updated story about the power restoration process in our new news story by clicking here.

Update at 7:55 pm: Most of the Mother Lode is without electricity this evening due to heavy rain, thunder and lightning in the region.

PG&E indicates that there are very few places that do have electricity in Tuolumne County, and along the Highway 4 and 49 corridors in Calaveras County. Because the outages are so widespread, it is difficult to project estimated restoration times for PG&E. Crews will be restoring power throughout the evening and early morning hours to the tens of thousands of customers who lost power. It could be a transmission line issue.

Firefighters have also been out looking for any lightning-caused fires this evening. A few small fires have been extinguished, including one in the Red Hills area outside of Jamestown.

Original story at 3:54 pm: Sonora, CA — Rain, thunder and lightning has been prevalent at times in the Mother Lode this afternoon, and it is leaving behind some power outages.

PG&E reports that there are over 5,000 customers without electricity between Tuolumne and Calaveras counties. The company reports that it could be around 9:15 pm today when there is full restoration. The outages are impacting communities like Tuolumne, Twain Harte, Phoenix Lake, Groveland, Pinecrest, San Andreas, and Lake Tulloch. Extra PG&E crews are responding to the area to assist.