LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Wednesday’s brutal winter storm, which combined high winds and heavy rain, resulted in dozens of downed trees, arcing power lines, power outages impacting thousands of residents and flooded streets.
Throughout the day and into the night, authorities responded to trees that fell and blocked roads or went into power lines, and flooding city and county roadways, among the myriad of emergency reports.
As of 2 a.m. Thursday, National Weather Service observation stations reported 24-hour rainfall totals ranging from just over an inch an a half at Indian Valley Reservoir to just below 2 inches in Upper Lake, 2.26 inches in Lakeport, 3 inches in Kelseyville and Hidden Valley Lake, 3.33 inches in Lower Lake and 5.85 inches in the Boggs Mountain State Demonstration Forest.
Those rainfall totals helped the depth of Clear Lake rise by about half a foot to 2.89 feet Rumsey – the special measure for Clear Lake – by 2 a.m. Thursday. A full lake is 7.56 feet Rumsey.
The heavy rain generated a number of dangers throughout the day, one of them being stressed and falling trees.
On Wednesday shortly before 3 p.m., firefighters responded to a report of a tree that fell on a home in the area of Pine Summit and Gifford Springs in Cobb. The two residents and their pets were reported to need temporary housing due to the damage to their home, according to radio reports.
With the soils already saturated before Wednesday’s storm, across the south county predominantly, there were numerous reports of downed trees.
On Highway 29 in the area of Manning Flats near Lower Lake on Wednesday night, a tree was reported to have fallen on a vehicle. Firefighters at the scene reported it was a noninjury incident.
The storm’s main impacts were power outages impacting about 4,500 customers in the Clearlake, Clearlake Highlands and Middletown areas, according to Pacific Gas and Electric Co.
Some south county residents reported on Wednesday night that their power had come back on, but the PG&E outage maps indicated some outages remained in effect overnight, including one in the Kelseyville area that impacted 335 customers.
The storm conditions were reported to have caused a severe washout on Bottle Rock Road and Highway 175 near Kelseyville. There also were reported to be numerous trees and other debris across the road, based on radio reports.
The California Highway Patrol reported several other road closures on Wednesday night, including Highway 175 from mile marker 17.1 to 17.6, in the area of Adams Springs Road near Loch Lomond, which was closed due to downed power lines, as well as Soda Bay Road at the Lake County Waste Solutions transfer station, where flooding was occuring; at Bell Hill Road and Adobe Creek; and Clark at Gaddy Lane.
On Wednesday night, the city of Lakeport reported that some city streets were flooded and closed, including Martin Street between Forbes and Russell streets, Hartley and 16th Street, and Lakeshore Boulevard from Green to Sayer.
Pictures posted online by residents showed flooded streets in those same areas as well as water extending close to the Lakeport Elementary School.
The National Weather Service’s forecast for Lake County calls for rain to continue through Sunday night, at which point there is expected to be a break in the weather continuing until midweek.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
Winter storm knocks out power, drenches county
- Elizabeth Larson
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