More than 7,000 Clovis customers lost power Wednesday as the season's first major storm rolled through the Central Valley, snarling traffic, shuttering a lunchtime business and leaving four schools temporarily in the dark. The outage stretched from east of Clovis Avenue at Ashlan Avenue northeast to Temperance Avenue and Tollhouse Road, and a separate storm-related outage in the Sanger area knocked out power to thousands more.
According to ABC30, parts of Clovis and Sanger lost power during the season's first major storm, which the station reported was caused by lightning striking a transformer. The outage disrupted businesses across the affected area and knocked out traffic signals, ABC30 reported, and power was restored for thousands of Clovis customers by Wednesday afternoon.
At the height of the outage, as many as 7,295 customers were affected as of 11:25 a.m., according to YourCentralValley.com. PG&E described it as an unplanned outage tied to ongoing storm conditions, the outlet reported, while KMPH quoted PG&E as saying multiple lightning strikes on its transmission system caused the outage affecting more than 7,000 customers. Separately, GV Wire reported that the cause of the outage remained under investigation.
Dark Signals and a Shuttered Deli
The power loss left several traffic signals in east Clovis inoperable, GV Wire reported, prompting warnings from Clovis police for drivers to treat dead intersections as four-way stops. The outage also forced a Deli Delicious location at Shaw and Armstrong to close shortly before the lunch rush, per the same ABC30 account.
Four schools lost power during the disruption: Clovis High School, Jefferson Elementary School, Miramonte Elementary School and Cedarwood Elementary School, according to the outlet's report. By 1:20 p.m., fewer than 100 people in Clovis remained without power, and PG&E confirmed the outage had been resolved, the outlet reported.
Crash at a Darkened Intersection
During the storm, a three-car crash occurred at the intersection of Barstow and Armstrong avenues in Clovis, according to the Fresno Bee. One driver suffered minor injuries in the crash, the newspaper reported. Police said DUI was not suspected and that authorities were still investigating the cause of the collision, per the Fresno Bee.
The newspaper also noted the storm marked the area's first official rainfall since June 1, underscoring how unusual the weather was for the Central Valley at this point in the season.
Sanger Outage Left Thousands in the Dark
North of Clovis, a separate storm-related outage struck the Sanger area, cutting power to 5,418 PG&E customers, GV Wire reported in a separate report. That outage, first reported at 11:24 a.m., affected Sanger, Centerville and surrounding communities, and PG&E had not provided an estimated restoration time as of the outlet's report.
The storms that swept through Wednesday also triggered broader outages across the region. Stormy conditions cut power to 8,000 PG&E customers in Fresno and surrounding areas that afternoon, YourCentralValley.com reported, with the first series of afternoon outages reported around 2 p.m. between Calwa and Del Rey. A third and largest wave was reported around 5:30 p.m., affecting more than 5,000 customers in the Fresno area as of 6:15 p.m., per the same outlet.
