Power outages and black-outs

[Shared Joy]

_https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0LzPaT8Dwo

Why you will LOSE all your DATA in an EMP attack, solar flare or nuclear war.

April 25, 2017
Nuclear war, EMP attacks and solar flares can wipe out magnetically stored data. You need to understand the science behind data storage if you hope to protect your data.

What he basically said is that optical media is a safe method to store data, even if it is more expensive and slower. But is more resilient to water, mud. He also said that even if society collapses there might be a recovery and a need to have a backup to your personal data.

Anybody more trained could make some comments?

 

[LQB]

_https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0LzPaT8Dwo

Why you will LOSE all your DATA in an EMP attack, solar flare or nuclear war.

April 25, 2017
Nuclear war, EMP attacks and solar flares can wipe out magnetically stored data. You need to understand the science behind data storage if you hope to protect your data.

What he basically said is that optical media is a safe method to store data, even if it is more expensive and slower. But is more resilient to water, mud. He also said that even if society collapses there might be a recovery and a need to have a backup to your personal data.

Anybody more trained could make some comments?

The primary threat associated with EMP (whether solar or nuclear) is to the power grid and long transmission lines (communications) of any kind. Electronics of any kind that are connected to these lines at the time of the event are also vulnerable - this includes transceivers connected to antennas. But in general, electronics that are not powered ON at the time of the event should fair well.

See here: https://www.sott.net/article/345096-Nuclear-EMP-Solar-EMP-or-something-else

 

[Renaissance]

I'm reminded a bit of the blackout in NYC in 2003. The C's said it was a result of a 4D bleed-through:

https://cassiopaea.org/forum/index.php?topic=21618.msg226782#msg226782

Q: (L) We're screwed! What caused the black out (in New York area)

A: 4D bleed-through. That's why it was more or less pronounced to be "natural".

These recent blackouts look to be related to solar activity, but not sure if a bleed-through and solar activity are necessarily exclusive.

 

[LQB]

I'm reminded a bit of the blackout in NYC in 2003. The C's said it was a result of a 4D bleed-through:

https://cassiopaea.org/forum/index.php?topic=21618.msg226782#msg226782

Q: (L) We're screwed! What caused the black out (in New York area)

A: 4D bleed-through. That's why it was more or less pronounced to be "natural".

These recent blackouts look to be related to solar activity, but not sure if a bleed-through and solar activity are necessarily exclusive.

Well, thinking along the lines of "everything is connected", that's a good possibility - especially in these times ...

 

[Prysm]

On the EMP front, I was listening to Adapt 2030's Ice Age podcast on stitcher radio and his guest Lee (forgot his last name) mentioned that buying a galvanized metal trash can at the hardware store along with the aluminum duct tape to seal it after the lid on is a way to protect electronics. He called it a poor mans Faraday cage. The #17 podcast is about 2.5 hrs long but covers some interesting info in terms of what the sun appears to be doing and future timelines. I recommend a listen to it for anyone interested.

 

[angelburst29]

Power outages due to heavy hailstorm.

Photos: Damaging hailstorm hammers Denver ahead of Monday evening commute (Photos - Video)
http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/photos-damaging-hailstorm-hammers-denver-ahead-of-monday-evening-commute/70001619

May 09, 2017 - A severe thunderstorm slammed Denver on Monday afternoon with large hail, causing damage and travel delays across the city.

Roads looked as if they were covered in snow due to the amount of hail that fell on Monday afternoon, resulting in travel delays that persisted after the storm had departed.

Hail as large as tennis balls was reported around Denver, smashing car windows, stripping trees of leaves and damaging some houses.

A severe thunderstorm moved over Denver shortly after 3 p.m. MDT and was very slow-moving, AccuWeather Meteorologist Brian Edwards said.

“Since the storm was barely moving, hail piled up several inches, causing widespread travel problems in the metro area,” Edwards said.

Travelers taking to the air were also impacted by the hailstorm with over 150 flight delays reported at Denver International Airport, according to FlightStats.

Over 1,700 electric customers were also left without power around the Denver area in the wake of the severe thunderstorm, XcelEnergy reported.

The threat for severe thunderstorms has passed in Denver, but rain may continue through midweek.

 

[Skyfarmr]

South Central Wisconsin, USA
Weird power outage last night around 930pm CST, lights went off, came back on, went back off, came back on, then went off and stayed off. All dark outside and neighbors homes were dark, too, but then couple of neighbors across street got their power back on, but ours stayed off til 2am.
We had rain, but no thunder, lightening or wind... the worst of the front passed 60-90 miles to the south, again, whew!

Talking to neighbors this morning, some strange reports such as house not having power, but garage had power/lights. Seemed to be just our side of the road, however, place across the road was out while the two places next door, lost power at first but came back on after a few minutes. We live in a small township with a single main road passing through, so it's odd that sporadic outage occurred from one place to the next.

One neighbor got a callback from energy supplier who told him that the power outage was due to equipment failure, 89 homes affected. Well, yea, but what would cause one place to only have partial loss of power, and other places to get their power back right away?

Time to think more seriously about getting a back-up power source for the sump pump :/ It's been running a lot with all the rain we've had.

 

[angelburst29]

South Central Wisconsin, USA
Weird power outage last night around 930pm CST, lights went off, came back on, went back off, came back on, then went off and stayed off. All dark outside and neighbors homes were dark, too, but then couple of neighbors across street got their power back on, but ours stayed off til 2am.
We had rain, but no thunder, lightening or wind... the worst of the front passed 60-90 miles to the south, again, whew!

Talking to neighbors this morning, some strange reports such as house not having power, but garage had power/lights. Seemed to be just our side of the road, however, place across the road was out while the two places next door, lost power at first but came back on after a few minutes. We live in a small township with a single main road passing through, so it's odd that sporadic outage occurred from one place to the next.

One neighbor got a callback from energy supplier who told him that the power outage was due to equipment failure, 89 homes affected. Well, yea, but what would cause one place to only have partial loss of power, and other places to get their power back right away?

Time to think more seriously about getting a back-up power source for the sump pump :/ It's been running a lot with all the rain we've had.

Hi Skyfarmr, I don't know if this report is from your area? Are you still getting "Winter storms" in your part of Wisconsin?

Power restored in Marshfield
http://www.marshfieldnewsherald.com/story/news/2017/01/10/power-knocked-out-marshfield/96421042/

MARSHFIELD - Parts of Marshfield lost power Tuesday night for more than an hour as a winter storm swept through the city.

Electricity cut out around 6:40 p.m. in the News-Herald office near Central Avenue and Veterans Parkway.

The culprit: a tree branch hit a line near 17th Street, according to Marshfield Utilities General Manager Bob Trussoni.

 

[angelburst29]

The blackout in Panama occurred about 15 minutes into a major speech delivered by President Juan Carlos Varela to the country's legislature.

Massive Power Outage Hits Central America
http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Massive-Power-Outage-Hits-Central-America-20170701-0027.html

1 July 2017 - A huge power outage hit Central America on Saturday at 1 p.m. local time, causing blackouts from Panama to Costa Rica to Nicaragua, as authorities across the region scrambled to restore supplies.

Officials at the Costa Rican Institute for Electricity said power was disrupted throughout the entire country but should be fixed later tonight.

"ICE is trying to diagnose the problem," said Communications Minister Mauricio Herrera, referring to the office by its Spanish acronym. He said that workers succeeded in restoring power to some areas of Costa Rica.

Local media have reported minor traffic incidents in the capital and people stuck in elevators as a result of the blackout.

ICE said that the origins of the blackout were outside of the country and urged the public to remain indoors while they try to fix the problem.

In Panama, the ETESA government power authority said via Twitter that the nation had experienced just a "partial blackout" and that workers were trying to restore power to the affected areas.

Nicaragua and El Salvador have also suffered from the outage.

A huge power outage hit Central America causing blackouts from Panama to Costa Rica to Nicaragua, as authorities across the region scrambled to restore supplies.

Massive Power Outage Hits Central America
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13960411001656

Officials at the Costa Rican Institute for Electricity said power was disrupted throughout the entire country but should be fixed later tonight, TeleSur reported.

"ICE is trying to diagnose the problem," said Communications Minister Mauricio Herrera, referring to the office by its Spanish acronym. He said that workers succeeded in restoring power to some areas of Costa Rica.

Local media have reported minor traffic incidents in the capital and people stuck in elevators as a result of the blackout.

ICE said that the origins of the blackout were outside of the country and urged the public to remain indoors while they try to fix the problem.

In Panama, the ETESA government power authority said via Twitter that the nation had experienced just a "partial blackout" and that workers were trying to restore power to the affected areas.

Nicaragua and El Salvador have also suffered from the outage.

A huge power outage plunged millions of people across Central America into darkness Saturday, as authorities from Panama to Costa Rica to El Salvador scrambled to restore electrical service.

Central America hit by massive power outages
https://au.news.yahoo.com/world/a/36234395/massive-power-outage-hits-central-america/#page1

The blackout affected some five million people in Costa Rica alone, where officials largely had managed to restore service after a nationwide power outage lasting about five hours.

Authorities pinned blame for the power outages on a downed Panamanian transmission line that adversely affected the power supply for much of the region.

Countries in the region, from Guatemala to Panama, are connected by the same power grid, covering an expanse of some 1,800 kilometers (1,100 miles).

But that interconnectedness means that the countries of Central America are vulnerable when there are power grid malfunctions in any one.

Chaos reigned in the Costa Rican capital after traffic lights ceased to function, while the main airport in San Jose had to run on backup power until the power system was up and running again.

The blackout was the first experienced in Costa Rica, among the most developed countries in Latin America, since 2001.

Officials said as many as two million people were left in the dark in Panama, with an undetermined number affected in Nicaragua and El Salvador.

Details were not immediately available about how many people were affected by the blackout elsewhere in Central America, or whether they had managed to get their power systems back up and running.

Officials at the Costa Rican Institute for Electricity said power was disrupted throughout the entire country, but was restored in most places by 6:00 pm (0000 GMT).

"ICE is trying to diagnose the problem," Communications Minister Mauricio Herrera, said earlier Saturday referring to the office by its Spanish acronym. He said that workers succeeded in restoring power to some areas of Costa Rica.

ICE said that the origins of the blackout were outside of the country and urged the public to remain indoors while they try to fix the problem.

In Panama, the ETESA government power authority said via Twitter that the nation had experienced just a "partial blackout" and that workers were trying to restore power to the affected areas.

Much of the power was restored about three hours after the blackout started, officials said.

The blackout in Panama occurred about 15 minutes into a major speech delivered by President Juan Carlos Varela to the country's legislature.

Nicaragua for a time had to tap the grid in neighboring Honduras to keep the lights on.

 

[Ca.]

The blackout in Panama occurred about 15 minutes into a major speech delivered by President Juan Carlos Varela to the country's legislature.

Massive Power Outage Hits Central America
http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Massive-Power-Outage-Hits-Central-America-20170701-0027.html

1 July 2017 - A huge power outage hit Central America on Saturday at 1 p.m. local time, causing blackouts from Panama to Costa Rica to Nicaragua, as authorities across the region scrambled to restore supplies.

Officials at the Costa Rican Institute for Electricity said power was disrupted throughout the entire country but should be fixed later tonight.

"ICE is trying to diagnose the problem," said Communications Minister Mauricio Herrera, referring to the office by its Spanish acronym. He said that workers succeeded in restoring power to some areas of Costa Rica.

Local media have reported minor traffic incidents in the capital and people stuck in elevators as a result of the blackout.

ICE said that the origins of the blackout were outside of the country and urged the public to remain indoors while they try to fix the problem.

In Panama, the ETESA government power authority said via Twitter that the nation had experienced just a "partial blackout" and that workers were trying to restore power to the affected areas.

Nicaragua and El Salvador have also suffered from the outage.

A huge power outage hit Central America causing blackouts from Panama to Costa Rica to Nicaragua, as authorities across the region scrambled to restore supplies.

Massive Power Outage Hits Central America
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13960411001656

Officials at the Costa Rican Institute for Electricity said power was disrupted throughout the entire country but should be fixed later tonight, TeleSur reported.

"ICE is trying to diagnose the problem," said Communications Minister Mauricio Herrera, referring to the office by its Spanish acronym. He said that workers succeeded in restoring power to some areas of Costa Rica.

Local media have reported minor traffic incidents in the capital and people stuck in elevators as a result of the blackout.

ICE said that the origins of the blackout were outside of the country and urged the public to remain indoors while they try to fix the problem.

In Panama, the ETESA government power authority said via Twitter that the nation had experienced just a "partial blackout" and that workers were trying to restore power to the affected areas.

Nicaragua and El Salvador have also suffered from the outage.

A huge power outage plunged millions of people across Central America into darkness Saturday, as authorities from Panama to Costa Rica to El Salvador scrambled to restore electrical service.

Central America hit by massive power outages
https://au.news.yahoo.com/world/a/36234395/massive-power-outage-hits-central-america/#page1

The blackout affected some five million people in Costa Rica alone, where officials largely had managed to restore service after a nationwide power outage lasting about five hours.

Authorities pinned blame for the power outages on a downed Panamanian transmission line that adversely affected the power supply for much of the region.

Countries in the region, from Guatemala to Panama, are connected by the same power grid, covering an expanse of some 1,800 kilometers (1,100 miles).

But that interconnectedness means that the countries of Central America are vulnerable when there are power grid malfunctions in any one.

Chaos reigned in the Costa Rican capital after traffic lights ceased to function, while the main airport in San Jose had to run on backup power until the power system was up and running again.

The blackout was the first experienced in Costa Rica, among the most developed countries in Latin America, since 2001.

Officials said as many as two million people were left in the dark in Panama, with an undetermined number affected in Nicaragua and El Salvador.

Details were not immediately available about how many people were affected by the blackout elsewhere in Central America, or whether they had managed to get their power systems back up and running.

Officials at the Costa Rican Institute for Electricity said power was disrupted throughout the entire country, but was restored in most places by 6:00 pm (0000 GMT).

"ICE is trying to diagnose the problem," Communications Minister Mauricio Herrera, said earlier Saturday referring to the office by its Spanish acronym. He said that workers succeeded in restoring power to some areas of Costa Rica.

ICE said that the origins of the blackout were outside of the country and urged the public to remain indoors while they try to fix the problem.

In Panama, the ETESA government power authority said via Twitter that the nation had experienced just a "partial blackout" and that workers were trying to restore power to the affected areas.

Much of the power was restored about three hours after the blackout started, officials said.

The blackout in Panama occurred about 15 minutes into a major speech delivered by President Juan Carlos Varela to the country's legislature.

Nicaragua for a time had to tap the grid in neighboring Honduras to keep the lights on.

There's some indication that this blackout may have been caused by a DEBW attack on the Luxembourg-based satellite operator SES, satellite. This could have been blow back causing this areas energy collapse. Though the dates do match.

4 Unidentified Objects Take Out Satellite/On Radar! (The Map)
Published on Jul 2, 2017

http://<iframe width="560" height="...aU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

A SATELLITE MAY BE FALLING APART IN GEOSTATIONARY ORBIT
https://www.n2yo.com/satellite-news/A-satellite-may-be-falling-apart-in-geostationary-orbit/4309
A satellite may be falling apart in geostationary orbit [Updated]
It is not clear what might have caused the AMC-9 satellite to become unresponsive.
https://arstechnica.com/science/2017/07/a-large-satellite-appears-to-be-falling-apart-in-geostationary-orbit/
Eric Berger - 7/2/2017, 4:55 PM
Sunday 11am ET Update: In response to a query from Ars, the AMC-9 satellite's operator, Luxembourg-based SES, issued the following statement on Sunday morning:

In the early hours of 1st July, the SES Satellite Control reestablished contact to AMC-9. SES and the satellite manufacturer Thales are working around the clock to evaluate the status and define the next steps.
Published on Jul 1, 2017

http://<iframe width="560" height="...ZM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

On the morning of June 17th, the Luxembourg-based satellite operator SES lost control of a large satellite in geostationary space. A few days ago ExoAnalytic Solutions began seeing the AMC-9 satellite fragment. For annotated still images, go here:
https://arstechnica.com/science/2017/...
Tracking information received on 29 June had suggested that at least two separate objects were located in the vicinity of AMC-9. Their source has still to be determined. The new piece of information was included by Thales and SES in their investigations.

All relevant operators and agencies are being kept informed and will receive regular updates from SES. The current assessment is that there is no risk of a collision with other active satellites. AMC-9 and its status continue to being tracked by SES and agencies, including the Joint Space Operations Centre (JSpOC) and ExoAnalytic, a private firm and tracking service provider.

Since the incident on 17 June 2017, AMC-9 has been slowly moving westwards with its payload disabled and not causing interference. A majority of traffic has been transferred to other SES satellites and SES is working on a long-term plan to minimize disruption to customers.

Weeden mentioned several possibilities. The AMC-9 satellite itself could have been hit by some sort of debris, or it could have have been harmed by a space weather problem, sustained a failure due to manufacturing. The AMC-9 could have been attacked by something—however, Weeden stressed that there is no evidence at all that this damage was deliberate. In any case, this situation seems sure to heighten concerns over space debris and the safety of assets at geostationary orbit, which in aggregate are valued at more than $100 billion.

 

[Ca.]

NASA's Kennedy Space Center Takes Stock of Irma Storm Damage
By Sarah Lewin, Space.com Associate Editor | September 12, 2017 01:05pm ET
_https://www.space.com/38128-kennedy-space-center-irma-storm-damage.html
Links and tweet's within:

NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida remains closed today (Sept. 12) as a team assesses damage caused by Hurricane Irma.

Irma, which has been downgraded to a tropical depression, is continuing north-northwest after hitting land twice on Sunday (Sept. 10), in the Keys and then near Naples, according to NASA. The storm knocked out power and water service to the NASA space center yesterday (Sept. 11).

Power was restored to the space center on the Florida's east coast yesterday, but the spaceport still lacks running water, KSC spokesman Al Feinberg told Space.com. KSC and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station host launches of SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket as well as United Launch Alliance's Atlas V and Delta IV rockets.

Today at 8 a.m., 120 employees who have taken care of the facilities since Sept. 9 were replaced by 250 members of a Damage Assessment and Recovery Team, who will survey storm damage and prepare the center for its 7,900 staff to return.

"The utility reports that Irma caused no less than 37 breaks to its system on the mainland alone and are not expected to be repaired for 2 to 4 days,"

Feinberg said in an email, quoting an update from KSC Emergency Management.

NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama, as well the adjacent Redstone Arsenal Army post, are both closed today as well based on ongoing weather conditions, according to an announcement on Twitter.

UPDATE: IRMA/Florida Power outage map and HOW LONG repairs could take

http://<iframe width="560" height="...RY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

September 12, 2017: Hurricane Irma had knocked out power to more than 5.4 million Florida homes and businesses — about 52 percent of the state — by Monday morning, most of them in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach Counties, according to the Florida Division of Emergency Management

Irma now a tropical depression; power out for 1.1 million in Georgia
12:06 p.m Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2017
Links pic's Tweets within:
_http://www.ajc.com/news/local/irma-now-tropical-depression-power-out-for-million-georgia/HNeHhNoI8RjplvbGfdqbiP/

More than 1.1 million people in Georgia remained without power Tuesday, and downed trees and power lines cut off dozens of metro Atlanta roads — the parting gifts of Irma.

Flooding left coastal Glynn County closed “until further notice,” with St. Simons Island cut off from the mainland. Tybee Island off Savannah was likewise inaccessible. Power was off for about 170,000 people along the coast.

The storm took at least three lives. Two people were crushed by falling trees in north metro Atlanta. A South Georgia man was swept off his roof by high winds.

By midmorning, I-75 south out of Atlanta was carrying twice the normal load of traffic for a weekday: the mass return of evacuees has begun. The Georgia Department of Transportation said state highways are blocked at 236 locations and urged evacuees to wait another day.

“If you’re headed back, you really need to know what you’re headed back to,”

said GDOT spokeswoman Natalie Dale.

“A lot of these places in South Georgia and Florida have no power."

There are gas shortages. If they get to South Georgia or north Florida and they run out of gas, there’s a good chance they will not be able to get gas.

About 140 flights into and out of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport were canceled Tuesday morning, after more than a thousand cancellations the day before.

Some metro cities and counties began to post lists of closed roads.

Even as Irma was shredding large portions of Georgia on Monday, Georgia was shredding large portions of Irma. The massive storm, nourished for days by the warm waters of the Atlantic, drew no strength at all from the red soils of the Peach State and began to break apart.

As of 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, power was still out for about 470,000 customers in metro Atlanta, according to outage maps from Georgia Power and the state’s electrical membership cooperatives.

The total, 1.14 million statewide as of 11 a.m., was down from nearly 1.5 million on Monday as utility crews swarmed over the state, working hard to get the lights back on.

DeKalb County had 144,000 customers without power as of 11 a.m., according to Georgia Power’s outage map. Electricity was still out for 100,000 customers in Fulton; 33,000 in Gwinnett; 38,000 in Clayton; 22,000 in Hall; and 2,600 in Cobb. The EMC outage map shows an additional 131,000 customers out in metro Atlanta, but it doesn’t break down the total by county.

Irma prompted a number of firsts for Atlanta and Georgia:
Atlanta had never been under a tropical storm warning before.
No governor had ever declared a state of emergency in all 159 Georgia counties before Gov. Nathan Deal did so in advance of Irma.
MARTA had never suspended both bus and train service as it did on Monday

“We know that we have many people who want to get off the Island — as we have no power — and many, many more trying to get on the Island,”

said Mayor Jason Buelterman in a social media post.

The city’s 911 system is down as well.

“This is a rough day for our community but we will work to get through it all together,

” Buelterman said.

 

[Ca.]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1068259421669785601

Major storm battering Atlantic Canada with high winds, snow leaves 300,000 without power | CBC News
Posted: Nov 29, 2018 5:48 AM AT
A massive winter storm making its way through Atlantic Canada has forced school closures and flight cancellations, halted ferry services and left hundreds of thousands of customers without power on Thursday morning.
Environment Canada has issued weather warnings in New Brunswick, P.E.I., Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland and Labrador.

• New
  Storm Centre: Get the latest closures, outages and travel details

The weather agency said winds could gust to 110 km/h in mainland Newfoundland and Labrador, where snowfall amounts were forecast to reach 25 centimetres in the central portion of the province.

Northern Nova Scotia was expected to get upwards of 20 centimetres of snow, with winds gusting up to 80 km/h before conditions were expected to improve Friday.

Environment Canada said the northern coast of P.E.I. could see pounding waves and surf, possibly causing flooding, while eastern New Brunswick could get up to 15 centimetres of snow and blustery winds up to 80 km/h.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1068131858951606272

Tiffany Chase, a spokesperson for Nova Scotia Power, said the problem affecting much of the mainland originated in Cape Breton, where heavy snow and tree branches on power lines caused an interruption in the transmission system near Port Hawkesbury.

Meanwhile, close to 39,000 customers were without power in New Brunswick. Most of those customers live in the Moncton, Riverview and Dieppe areas.
Marc Belliveau, a spokesperson for NB Power, said crews were being deployed Thursday morning. The utility also brought in five contractor crews in Miramichi and 10 contractor crews in Moncton.

• NB Power likely blew its storm damage budget — and it's not even winter
• NB Power blames backyard power poles for extended blackouts

"The biggest issue that is causing outages is high winds — gusting to 80 [km/h] — which is causing tree contact with lines," he said.
In P.E.I. outages peaked at 51,000 customers for Maritime Electric, and all 7,000 Summerside Electric customers were also out.

Schools across Atlantic Canada were closed or had delayed openings, and ferry service between Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia was cancelled until the winds could die down. The Confederation Bridge between P.E.I. and New Brunswick had restricted travel.
Isabelle LeBlanc, director of communications for the City of Moncton, said streets remained slippery and covered with snow.

LeBlanc said salt crews have been out since shortly after midnight and snow removal equipment is clearing city streets.
But she still advised motorists to drive with caution while out on the roads.

"For now everything is business as usual for the City of Moncton."

Codiac Transpo will be out on the roads, but buses could be pulled off if winds start to pick up and reduce visibility.

"Our main concern right now is the wind and the wind is supposed to pick up," she said.
"So we're going to keep a close eye on that."

Al Giberson, general manager for MRDC, the company that maintains the Trans-Canada Highway between Moncton and Fredericton, said there was slush, and snow was blowing and drifting toward the Moncton area of the highway.
"There's going to be some reduced visibility in the eastern section of the Trans-Canada Highway this morning," he said.

• The weather doesn't look too bad. So why is the power out?
• Tens of thousands of N.S. students being dismissed early as power outages persist

Although the highway was salted, he advised motorists to drive slowly, allow space between other drivers on the road and give themselves lots of travel time.

"We have to be aware of the driving conditions and adjust our speeds and driving style to accommodate that," he said.
"If you absolutely have to [drive], conditions get a little bit better as you travel west but there is a bit of snow and there is some slush on the road."


Potential Outrage's:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1068266726847074305

Flashback:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1066523356323704832

 

[Ca.]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1075836012553822210

Thursday, December 20, 2018, 2:31 PM - The strongest storm in a potentially a decade is barreling towards the South Coast of British Columbia, with significant power outages and damage to infrastructure highly probable.

Powerful winds left thousands of customers without power late Thursday morning, according to BC Hydro, with officials warning of additional outages possible through the evening.

• Strong low pressure system crosses Vancouver Island Thursday afternoon
• Damaging winds possible across exposed coastal sections of Vancouver Island and across the Lower Mainland
• An additional 50 cm possible in the alpine regions through early Friday
• BC Ferries cancelled sailings on major routes due to winds Thursday
• 50,000+ were without power Thursday morning, with more expected through the day. Update on outages, here
• ALERTS: Monitor watches and warnings as storms progress, here

THE FORECAST

Extreme winds are impacting the the South Coast of British Columbia. A similar storm setup to last Friday, which caused nearly a quarter million outages across Washington State and British Columbia. This storm will almost certainly knock out more customers off the grid in B.C. than the previous system that targeted Puget Sound with the majority of power outages.

The image below is a still as we approach peak wind intensity late Thursday afternoon (2-5 PM PT). The amount of isobars (lines in white) across southern Vancouver Island is on the higher end of most windstorms, so we can expect widespread damage and prolonged outages with this event.

Victoria and the the southern Gulf Islands are also susceptible to significant wind damage Thursday afternoon. By early afternoon, the SE winds will be roaring, targeting the Gulf Islands and Greater Victoria, but the winds quickly switch directions by early evening – the southwest wind punch likely peaks after dinner with gusts approaching 90 km/h for Victoria. The winds will gradually ease by early pre-dawn Friday.

HEAVY MOUNTAIN SNOW CONTINUING

Over 20 cm is still forecast for Whistler in the Coastal Mountain range, with some of this deep powder expanding into the Interior of British Columbia. Parts of SE B.C. can expect over 20 cm of snowfall, especially the mountains surrounding Nelson.

As far as heavy rainfall, the system is mostly drenched the coast and parts of B.C. with the majority of the rainfall associated with this system. Just an additional 10-20 mm possible for NE sections of the Lower Mainland, as we switch gears and focus on the damaging wind threat through Thursday evening. The recent heavy rainfall has made trees extremely susceptible to falling during heavy winds.

WEST VANCOUVER: 258 mm of rainfall and counting through the month of December.

One last note on the winds: Not ALL the Lower Mainland will see damaging winds, winds over the complex terrain have a myriad of possible solutions, and the track of the low being off my only a couple hundred kilometres can have vastly different impacts. Just because your specific neighbourhood isn't experience damaging winds, it doesn't mean the storm didn't produce damage somewhere else, relatively close by.

WATCH BELOW: WHAT MAKES THE COQUIHALLA DANGEROUS IN THE WINTER?
Video / 00:36

 

[Bluefyre]

Here just east of Vancouver proper we haven't lost power - yet. Some tree branches down though.

 

[Ca.]

Here just east of Vancouver proper we haven't lost power - yet. Some tree branches down though.

Yeah, it's been getting kinda rough on Old Mother Earth over the last 24. Stay safe!