A large-scale power outage is underway across Washington County, with utility reports indicating tens of thousands of customers are currently without electricity. Outages of this size typically stem from severe weather – such as high winds, ice, or fallen trees damaging lines and equipment – though equipment failures within the grid itself can also be responsible. The specific cause has not yet been confirmed, and utilities generally assess damage before announcing restoration timelines.
If you live in the affected area, you may notice flickering lights, dead traffic signals, and businesses closed or operating on backup power. Cell service and home internet can also become unreliable if outage conditions persist, since cell towers and network equipment run on limited battery backup. Treat any dark intersection as a four-way stop.
What to do and watch for
Check your utility’s outage map. Most power companies post live outage maps and estimated restoration times. A quick report of your own outage helps crews pinpoint the problem area.
Protect food and electronics. Keep refrigerator and freezer doors closed – a full freezer holds safe temperatures for roughly 48 hours. Unplug sensitive electronics to guard against surges when power returns.
Use backup power safely. Never run a generator, grill, or camp stove indoors or in a garage. Carbon monoxide is odorless and deadly. If you rely on powered medical equipment, contact your utility about priority restoration or move to a location with power.
For most customers, weather-related outages are resolved within hours, though damage to substations or transmission lines can extend restoration into a day or more. Crews typically restore the largest affected areas first, so individual homes may come back online at different times.
Outage figures and grid status are reported by local utilities and tracked through publicly available power-outage monitoring services and National Weather Service (NWS) reports.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this outage connected to space weather or a geomagnetic storm?
There is no indication of that at this time. Most large outages in a single county are caused by severe weather or equipment failure; a geomagnetic storm strong enough to affect transformers would be a much wider, well-documented event.
How long until my power is restored?
No official restoration estimate has been issued yet. Most weather-related outages are fixed within hours, but damage to major equipment can take a day or longer – check your utility's outage map for updates specific to your address.
Is my food still safe to eat?
A closed refrigerator keeps food cold for about 4 hours, and a full freezer for roughly 48 hours. When in doubt, throw perishable food out rather than risk illness.
Should I report my outage even if it's widespread?
Yes. Individual reports help utilities map the extent of the damage and prioritize crews, and they ensure your address is included in restoration estimates.
Keep tracking this: the Space Weather Command Center shows live storm levels, aurora visibility and active alerts in plain English, and the Event Database is a searchable log of every alert we’ve tracked – earthquakes, solar flares, CMEs and geomagnetic storms, free to search or download.
Source: KUTV
Sky & Solar Conditions at the Time
Moon: Full Moon (100% illuminated), in Pisces.
Notable planetary angles: Sun opposite Moon (180°), Sun conjunct Mercury (0°), Moon opposite Mercury (179°), Jupiter trine Saturn (119°).
Concurrent space weather: planetary Kp index 1.0; strongest recent solar flare: nothing notable.
This is a factual snapshot, not a claim of cause and effect – researchers are divided on whether lunar, planetary or solar factors influence seismic or weather activity. It’s included so readers can track the pattern for themselves over time.
