Isolated weather-related outages have continued throughout the day Tuesday as the winter storm moves across Iowa and as more snow falls and strong winds blow, MidAmerican Energy says.
In rural areas in western Iowa, accumulation of freezing precipitation combined with high winds have caused some overhead lines to lift and bounce – called galloping – which can interrupt service, the company reported in an afternoon release. You can see an example of galloping from this video that a MidAmerican line crew shot this morning in the Malvern area (you can download the video clip HERE. The Malvern outage affected 129 customers.
Impacts to two MidAmerican substations have resulted in a large number of customers without power. Customers in Griswold, Elliott and Lewis have been restored and they expect most of customers in the Macedonia and Carson areas to be restored within the next hour (5:30 p.m.) or sooner. It’s possible some isolated customer circuits in those areas may take longer to restore, the company said.
To the east, snow continues to fall and wind speeds have increased, resulting in some additional outages impacting Iowa City and the Quad Cities. Crews are on-site and working to resolve any power disruptions as quickly and safely as possible.
Line crews and tree crews will continue to work throughout the night as needed to respond to existing and emerging situations.
Following any major storm, it’s important for the public to be aware of the danger posed by fallen power lines. If you see a downed line, always assume it’s energized and don’t approach it. Contact MidAmerican (888-427-5632) and they will respond to any report of a downed line to ensure it’s safe.
The National Weather Service in the QC says snow will continue tonight mainly before 9 p.m., and could be heavy at times. Patchy blowing snow is likely overnight. Blustery, with a northwest wind 20 to 25 mph decreasing to 15 to 20 mph after midnight. Winds could gust as high as 45 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New snow accumulation of 1 to 3 inches possible.
Wednesday is forecast to be mostly cloudy, with a steady temperature around 26, the NWS said. West wind 10 to 15 mph becoming south in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 20 mph.
For more information on storm safety, click HERE.
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