LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — In response to this week’s heavy snowfall and its impacts on Lake County, Sheriff Rob Howe on Friday declared a local emergency.

Howe’s local emergency declaration specifically cites the low elevation snow and extreme cold that have left much of Lake County without power and led to closed roadways and crashes.

“As the forecasted weather has the potential to create conditions that are beyond the control and management capacity of the services, personnel, equipment, and facilities of Lake County, this declaration allows for the County to receive additional support not otherwise available,” the Sheriff’s Office said in a Friday afternoon statement.

This is the second local emergency declaration for Howe, who became sheriff at the start of the year. The first declaration was in response to the series of atmospheric rivers that began at Christmas and extended into January.

Such declarations generally have to be ratified by the Board of Supervisors within seven days. It’s expected the board will take up the declaration as a special item at its Tuesday meeting.

The Sheriff’s Office said the state of local emergency will continue to exist until the Board of Supervisors declares its termination.

The Office of Emergency Services will continue to monitor and coordinate with local, state and federal agencies where appropriate to respond to this winter weather event as it evolves, the agency said.

Meanwhile, across Lake County, residents dealt with issues that included falling trees, damaged roofs and awnings, and other fallout of the storm.

Many longtime residents report that this is either the heaviest snowfall they have seen in Lake County or that they’ve not seen such a storm for several decades.

And the forecast indicates there could be more snow to come.

While forecasters said the heaviest of the snow fell on Thursday, more snow is anticipated to fall beginning on Saturday and continuing through Tuesday.

The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm watch for Lake County that’s in effect from 10 p.m. Sunday through 4 p.m. Tuesday, with heavy snow possible above the 1,500 foot elevation mark.

In that elevation, the forecast expects snowfall of between 5 and 14 inches, with one to five inches at lower elevations, combined with wind gusts of up to 45 miles per hour on exposed ridges.

Chances of rain also are in the forecast through Tuesday night, the National Weather Service said.

INFORMATION AND CONTACTS

County services

Contact information for each County department is available at https://www.lakecountyca.gov.

If departments are managing unusually high call volume with limited staff, some delay in response may occur.

General information

City of Clearlake: https://www.clearlake.ca.us/
County of Lake on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lakecountycagov
City of Lakeport: https://www.cityoflakeport.com/

Law enforcement and first responders

Clearlake Police Department: https://www.clearlake.ca.us/210/Police-Department or https://www.facebook.com/clearlakepolice
Lake County OES on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LakeCountyOES
Lake County Sheriff's Office: Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/lakesheriff
Lakeport Police Department: https://www.facebook.com/LakeportPolice

Roads

Caltrans: https://roads.dot.ca.gov/roadscell.php and https://quickmap.dot.ca.gov

Lake County Department of Public Works: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Lakecountydpw/

Solid waste/recycling

Public Services for the Eastlake Landfill: 707-262-1618
Lake County Waste Solutions: 707-234-6400
South Lake Refuse and Recycling: 707-994-8613

Utilities

Pacific Gas and Electric outage map: https://pgealerts.alerts.pge.com/outagecenter/

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.