This is a developing situation and information may change. We’ll update this article as more information becomes available. The most recent information will be updated at the top of the article, with the earlier reports below.
UPDATE 2/5/24 10:30 a.m. — Power outages have closed a number of schools in Fort Bragg, Anderson Valley, Leggett, Point Arena: see the full list of closures or late starts here.
Here are the major road closures as of 9:50 a.m., posted by Caltrans District 1. However, crews are working quickly to clear roads, so you should check the Caltrans Quickmap before hitting the road. County road crews are also working on a number of small roads, although trees and downed lines continue to be reported. The storm has also resulted in road closures and outages across the region, so expect delays and flooding if you are planning travel outside of the county as well.
MENDOCINO COUNTY
Route 1 is OPEN near Frog Pond Road (PM 45.46-45.6)
Route 128 is FULLY CLOSED from the Route 1 junction to Flynn Creek Road (PM 0-11.6) west of Navarro due to flooding.
UPDATE 2/5/24 9:15 a.m. — The storm has receded in Mendocino County, but more than 23,000 PG&E customers remain without power across the county. In Mendocino, the largest outages included Ukiah, where a transformer was damaged on Sunday afternoon, and Fort Bragg and the surrounding region, where reports of issues with a transmission line have left over 9,000 customers without power since last night. There are additional large outages along State Route 128, along the south coast and the Point Arena area, and in Round Valley.
SR 128 is closed at the junction of Highway 1 at the coast to Flynn Creek Road, and number of roads remain closed this morning, including SR 175 at US 101 in Hopland at the Russian River Bridge, Highway 1 south of Westport, and a number of smaller roads are impacted or blocked by fallen trees or debris. Conditions continue to change this morning, so check the Caltrans Quickmap for the most current conditions.
A flood warning has been extended for the Russian River until 1:45 a.m. on Feb. 6 — you can read the National Weather Service warning here.
A complete list of links to current conditions is included at the bottom of this article.
UPDATE 2/4/24 9 p.m. — Those without power now include 8,473 customers in Fort Bragg and another 2,519 south of the city, with nearly another 1,000 on the south coast and more than 3,300 in the Ukiah, Redwood Valley, and Potter Valley vicinity. According to the website poweroutage.us, there are more than 19,960 customers without power in Mendocino County out of 53,755 the site is counting.
The Fort Bragg Police Department has posted the following message:
“We are aware of the power outage affecting our area. Based on available information it appears the last transmission line to the coast has been damaged. At this time there is no estimated time that electricity will be restored to the coast.
You can check the current outage status here.
Officers are on and will be patrolling the city throughout the night. 911, radio communications, and the non-emergency number ((707) 964-0200) are operational. As always if you need to report an emergency utilize 911.”
UPDATE 2/4/24 8:30 p.m. — Ongoing outages, downed trees, and flooding continues to hamper emergency responders, who are diligently responding to a number of incidents across the county to improve road access — we are unable to list the number of incidents due to the high number of calls, but have included links at the end of the article with the most current information.
The City of Ukiah has issued a Nixle alert for an ongoing outage due to a transformer going out, and are notifying residents that PG&E will begin to repair equipment on the morning of Feb. 5, 2024. Anyone relying on life-saving medical or other life savings equipment that requires electricity running through the night is advised to contact law enforcement.
According to the PG&E outage map, 1,677 customers are without power in Ukiah, as well as over 1,000 in the Potter Valley and Redwood Valley areas, and another 704 south of Ukiah along State Route 253. Hundreds of people remain without power along the coast as well, particularly in the Point Arena area.
UPDATE 2/4/24 7:15 p.m. — The Mendocino County Office of Education will be listing school closures here; as of now Point Arena schools and the Pacific Community Charter School are planning to be closed on Monday, February 5.
Emergency crews are stretched thin as additional vehicle incidents, downed trees, and power lines occur and there are additional delays occurring as response workers are forced to reroute due to road hazards — see the ongoing list of incidents at the Caltrans Quickmap.
UPDATE 2/4/24 6:15 p.m. — Emergency response crews have been busy responding to incidents and outages around the county, and scanner traffic indicates that PG&E response times are delayed due to a high volume of outages across the region. If you have lost power, you can check your specific outage at the PG&E outage map.
State Route 175 is now closed from U.S. Highway 101 to the Russian River bridge due to flooding. Downed trees and downed power lines continue to impact travel on smaller roads across the county — please stay off the roads if possible, and take caution if driving this evening.
UPDATE 2/4/24 4:30 p.m. — There are ongoing new power outages occurring around the county, including over 1,000 customers in Potter Valley and Redwood Valley, and almost another 1,000 customers in the Point Arena and south coast area. Crews are working to restore power, but may be delayed due to the volume of outages across Northern California right now. For the most current conditions, check the the Caltrans Quickmap, and the links to additional information about outages and more at the end of the article.
Downed trees continue to obstruct traffic: emergency crews are currently working to remove a downed tree blocking both southbound lanes of U.S. Highway 101 near the rock shop. However, earlier closures on State Route 1 and SR 20 have now been opened.
UPDATE 2/4/24 2:30 p.m. — Despite small breaks in the rain, the roads remain hazardous: State Route 20 is closed between Fort Bragg and Willits at Porterfield Lane to Big River due to ongoing hazards from fallen trees; State Route 20 is also closed in Lake County at Bartlett Springs Road. SR 1 between Navarro Ridge Road and the intersection with SR 128 is now open to one-way traffic, but emergency road work continues. Please take caution if travelling because additional road hazards continue to be reported, and crews are working around the county to clear roads and collisions.
A flood warning is in effect for the Russian River beginning at 6 p.m. this evening until 6 a.m. Monday, and water is expected to rise and reach flood state around 7 p.m., leading to a potential closure of SR 175 at Talmage. A flood warning is also in effect for the Navarro River from 2 a.m. Monday until 3 p.m. Monday, and could close SR 128. A flood advisory is in place for southern Lake County through this evening. See more details for your specific area at the NWS website.
UPDATE 2/4/24 10:30 a.m. — State Route 1 is now closed from Navarro Ridge Road to the junction of State Route 128 for emergency work, according to Caltrans. There is no estimated time of re-opening. Conditions are changing rapidly and crews are working hard to respond to different incidents, but if you are planning to drive today, check the the Caltrans Quickmap for a full list of incidents and closures.
UPDATE 2/4/24 9:45 a.m. — The stormy weather that began last night is resulting in significant delays on roads around the region this morning — the California Highway Patrol is reporting a number of downed trees, downed power lines, as well as vehicle incidents. If you can stay home today, we recommend it, and if planning to travel, check the Caltrans Quickmap for current closures or incidents so you can plan alternate routes if needed. Additional information sources are included at the bottom of this article.
Power outages are currently impacting hundreds of customers, particularly on the south coast — you can see updates every 15 minutes at the PG&E outage map. If you haven’t already, we recommend preparing for potential outages until this evening as a high wind advisory remains in effect until 7 p.m.
Road hazards are being reported on a number of roads and crews are working to clear them as soon as possible, but ongoing winter conditions should be expected to continue until this evening — given the number of incidents, we will not be updating with each one, but take caution if you are planning any travel today.
Orr Springs Road has been closed at the 214000 block due to a very large downed tree as of around 8:30 this a.m., and crews are working to clear the road; another tree is reported blocking the road at State Route 1 and State Route 128, as well as power lines down in the area. Flooding is reported at State Route 20 and Foothill Drive in Lake County, and mud and rocks have been reported on a number of roads as well.
Additional flooding is expected later this evening for the Russian River and Navarro River in southern Mendocino County, and is likely to impact State Route 175 and potentially State Route 128, which might result in road closures.
Original: MENDOCINO Co., 2/3/24 — Another storm system is moving in with varying impacts forecast across California, and the National Weather Service (NWS) has issued wind advisories and winter storm warnings for much of the North Coast beginning late Saturday evening and early Sunday morning. In Mendocino and Lake counties, high winds are expected to begin around 2 a.m. Sunday and continue until 7 p.m. that evening; heavy wet snow is forecast for elevations above 3000 feet in Trinity, northeast Mendocino and northern Lake counties starting Sunday morning, and flooding may be possible in southern Mendocino County beginning Sunday afternoon due to ongoing rains.
Residents should prepare for potential outages and downed trees, but the impacts of the storm will vary depending on your exact location. Much of the central and southern parts of the state are also facing severe weather warnings and expecting significant rainfall and potential flooding over the next several days, so take caution and check the forecast and road conditions if you are planning to travel.
You can find links to a variety of official links, including current weather, road conditions, outages, and more in our winter weather info guide, to get the most detailed information for your area.
A winter weather warning is in place for interior northeastern Mendocino and northern Lake counties beginning at midnight and lasting through 4 p.m. Sunday, with locations above 3000 feet in elevation forecast to receive between 6 and 15 inches of wet snow — but snow is possible down to 2000 feet in elevation.
A high wind advisory is also in place for most of interior Mendocino and Lake counties from 2 a.m. Sunday through 7 p.m. that evening, which could result in winds from 30 – 40 mph with gusts up to 70 mph possible, which could result in downed trees and outages.
Rain is also forecast to potentially bring flooding to low lying areas and streams in southern Mendocino, and NWS has issued a flood watch beginning Sunday afternoon through Sunday evening, noting:
Moderate to heavy rain on Sunday will bring a threat for urban and small stream flooding. Scotts Creek may flood portions of Scotts Valley road. Russian river at Hopland may flood highway 175 at the approaches to the Russian river bridge as well. Minor flooding of crop land near the banks of the river may also occur.
NWS
We’ll keep you updated during the storm, but for specific information, we recommend you check out our winter weather info guide, as well as the resources below:
Mendocino Voice Winter weather resources:
- Our guide for winter weather emergency and preparedness info — we recommend you bookmark this
- Check your specific forecast at this link along with the National Weather Service advisories and warnings, as well as their Facebook page and their Twitter page
- Check the CalTrans QuickMap for current road closures or call 1-800-GAS-ROAD
- Check for current accidents at the CHP traffic update page
- Caltrans traffic cameras can be seen here, and here are the PG&E cameras
- You can also check out the Weather Underground to look for weather stations in your area
- Check the PG&E current outage map to find or report power outages
- NWS has flood stage predictions here; and you can find USGS current streamflow information here
- NWS is seeking snowfall reports, and you can submit them to this website.
- We recommend meteorologist Daniel Swain’s Weather West Blog as a good place to find more in-depth current weather analysis
