Record-high temps, excessive heat warnings cause power outages across San Diego County
Record-high temps, excessive heat warnings cause power outages across San Diego County
FOX 5 San Diego & KUSI News
SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — The heat wave scorching Southern California will continue at least another day and the power grid is working hard to keep up.
The National Weather Service (NWS) reports the record-breaking high temperatures will continue through Monday night for all areas of San Diego County.
San Diego’s valley areas, including Santee, El Cajon, Escondido, La Mesa, Poway and San Marcos, are under an excessive heat warning until 8 p.m. Monday with temperatures expected in the 100s to 110s.
While San Diego’s coastal areas are under heat advisories through 8 p.m. Monday — San Diego, Oceanside, Vista, Chula Vista, Carlsbad, Encinitas and National City. NWS says high temperatures are expected in the uppers 80s and low 90s near the coast, and 90s to 100 degrees just a few miles inland.
As San Diego’s power grid works to keep up with the demand from the record-breaking temperatures, tens of thousands of people across the county were without power Sunday.
A San Diego Gas and Electric (SDG&E) spokesperson told FOX 5/KUSI Sunday afternoon they believe the heat is related to the mass power outages across the county, however they are still investigating the cause.
The spokesperson also took the chance to thank their customers for being patient and said SDG&E crews are working around the clock in the heat to bring back power to all those impacted.
As of 5 p.m. Sunday, the SDG&E outage map reported about 6,000 households were without power.
As of 10 p.m., over 9,000 households were without power as SDG&E crews continue to work to get that power back on. The communities of Old Town/ Mission Hills/ Hillcrest, and Paradise Hills/ Skyline/ Bay Terraces have the most outages reported with over 1,000 outages in each area.
At one point Sunday, more than 10,000 people were without power in the Jamacha area, according to SDG&E. In total, around 13,000 were without power at its peak.
By Monday at 6 a.m., only a handful of outages remained. The most widespread outage reported by SDG&E was about 852 customers in the area of Valley Center, Rincon and Pauma Valley. According to the utility’s outage map, crews are still assessing the cause of the disruption.
Meanwhile, many areas across Southern California have been experiencing severe weather amid the high temperatures. Parts of the county this weekend have seen thunderstorms with high winds, heavy rain and hail.
If your power goes out during an extreme heat event, there are several steps you can take to stay cool.
According to the CDC, residents can dress in lightweight clothing, use battery-powered fans to cool your home, stay hydrated, reduce activity, take cool showers, keep refrigerator and freezer doors closed to preserve food, close blinds and curtains to help keep out the sun, along with finding alternative ways to prepare food like grilling outside.
Call 800-CDC-INFO for more information on what to do during a power failure in hot weather.
Those in San Diego County impacted by the power outages can find more information, check the status of an outage and report an outage with SDG&E’s outage map.
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