Amador County – As many as 23,000 foothill residents were left without power beginning early Sunday morning due to heavy winter rain and snow storms.

Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) company officials reported blanket power outages occurring Sunday and Monday in portions of Amador, Calaveras, Nevada, Placer and El Dorado counties.

In total, 3,200 were without power in Alpine Amador, Calaveras and San Joaquin counties. The largest outage hit West Point, where 1,700 customers were without power much of Sunday.

PG&E said the outages occurred after multiple spans of wires fell in various areas. They warn residents to use caution when driving and stay clear of downed lines. Crews have been dispatched throughout the area to restore power.

Multiple brief outages also knocked out power for businesses in downtown Jackson Monday morning.

As of late Monday morning, multiple reports of downed lines in Amador County were still coming in. As of 10:25 am, Highway 88 was closed between Meadow Pine and Sugar Pine Drive because of downed power lines. Another line was reported down on Woodland Road in Pioneer.

As of 11:30 a.m. Monday, Highway 88 at the Carson Spur was also closed due to heavy snowfall.

The National Weather Service has put in place a winter storm warning that will remain in effect until 6 pm Tuesday above the 2,500 foot elevation. The agency expects another cold front dropping southward into the region tonight bringing another round or showers and snow to 2,500 feet or lower, and gusty winds of up to 50 miles per hour in some very high elevations.

Residents are advised to use extreme caution while driving.

If you want to report or have concerns about downed power lines, please call PG&E at 1-800-PGE-5000.

Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.