Rocky Mountain Power continues to monitor weather conditions in areas of Iron and Washington counties

CEDAR CITY, Utah — Rocky Mountain Power continues to closely monitor weather conditions, which include high winds and elevated fire conditions, in areas around several communities in Iron and Washington counties. The Public Safety Power Shutoff watch issued by the company yesterday evening is still in effect until Friday afternoon.

“With the combination of high, gusty winds, extremely low humidity and elevated measures on key weather indexes, we are taking precautions to protect these communities,” says Curtis Mansfield, senior vice president of operations. “Our meteorology team continues to monitor weather conditions and is reporting that wind conditions were less than forecasted however, the high wind event will be in the region  through Friday.”

Approximately 680 customers in extreme risk areas have been notified of the potential Public Safety Power Shutoff through phone calls, email and text messages. They will continue to receive notifications prior to a Public Safety Power Shutoff or if the watch is canceled. Communities under the watch include:

• Milford
• Cedar City
• Enterprise

Rocky Mountain Power is taking additional safety precautions by directing extra restoration personnel and resources to monitor weather impact on the system. In the event of a power outage, employees will inspect lines and facilities for safety before power is restored, which could result in longer outages.

Situational awareness is a key component to deciding if a Public Safety Power Shutoff will happen. A network of wildland cameras, called ALERTWildfire, provides an additional layer of real-time insight into on-the-ground conditions.

Ahead of the 2021 wildfire season, the company formed a dedicated meteorology team. One of the data points they pull from is a network of weather monitoring stations deployed by the company which are publicly available. These stations monitor a range of weather conditions including relative humidity and wind speeds. 

ALERTWildfire: www.alertwildfire.org/utah

Mesowest: https://mesowest.utah.edu/cgi-bin/droman/mesomap.cgi?state=UT&rawsflag=3

If conditions are met, a Public Safety Power Shutoff is a proactive measure to mitigate wildfire risk in the face of hazardous fire weather conditions including extreme low humidity, dry vegetation and sustained high winds and elevated counts on key weather indexes. Current Iron and Washington county area forecasts indicate Public Safety Power Shutoff thresholds for those conditions could be met Thursday and possibly into Friday.

Weather-related power outages can happen during high wind events. The company urges customers to follow emergency management official recommendations to have a plan and be prepared. For all non-emergency questions about the Public Safety Power Shutoff watch, customers and the public should call Rocky Mountain Power at 1-888-221-7070.

Visit rockymountainpower.net/psps for additional information on Public Safety Power Shutoffs and company wildfire mitigation practices and updates.