PG&E preparing for possible power outages ahead of strong wind and rain

FRESNO COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) -- Clouds and breezes rolled through the Central Valley on Wednesday morning ahead of an impactful storm.

PG&E is gearing up by using artificial intelligence to determine where to station its crews.

"By using it to analyze prior weather data and prior power outage data and kind of combining those two things using AI, that gives us predictability in terms of modeling in terms of where we're going to see the most significant impacts," PG&E spokesperson Jeff Smith said.

The utility says the Fresno County foothills should expect strong winds and power outages.

"There's more vegetation in those areas," Smith explained.

"You have vegetation with wind that gets intertwined with our lines and causes power outages."

On top of the wind, some will be seeing snow.

"We'll be seeing areas like Mariposa, Oakhurst, Coarsegold all see at least accumulating snow so that'll make things pretty slick in those areas," AM Live meteorologist, Christine Gregory said.

PG&E added that the grapevine should expect a significant impact.

"If folks are traveling in that area, there will in all likelihood be some outages as that storm moves through," Smith said.

Crews will work through the night to help those who lose power, but nightfall can cause issues.

"If our crews cannot safely access an area because of visibility issues at night, those customers may be without power until the next morning," Smith explained.

The utility advises everyone to charge their phones and any other devices needed before the storm rolls in.

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