When winter temperatures drop and storms hit, it can be challenging to stay warm and safe. Extremely low temperatures, high winds and heavy snowfall can lead to power outages. During a power outage, utility crews work as quickly and safely as possible to restore your power, but it still takes time.
Lineworkers, who brave the elements to keep electricity flowing, have key insights to storm readiness and how to keep their families ready come winter. Think like a lineworker, and take proactive measures now to ensure your home remains safe and prepare your family to weather any storm coming your way.
Prepare Your Home for Winter Storms
Although the extremity of winter weather varies from one region to another, no area is immune to weather-related events.
In Northern Idaho, where Foreman Cliff Miller has been a lineworker with Clearwater Power Co. for 29 years, winters are cold with significant snowfall.
Cliff’s experiences as a lineworker influence his lists of tasks inside and outside the home.
He recommends ensuring your heating system is reliable and efficient. Start with scheduling a maintenance check for your furnace or heating source. A professional can clean filters, check for potential hazards and ensure your system operates smoothly.
If you rely on electric heat, have a backup heating option in place—such as a generator, fireplace or wood-burning stove—to stay warm during prolonged outages. Remember that fuel- and woodburning heat sources should always be properly ventilated.
Insulating your home and weather-stripping around doors and windows can prevent heat loss and keep your space more comfortable, with and without power. For a more budget-friendly option, consider thermal curtains to help retain warmth.
Outside the home, Cliff recommends disconnecting all hoses from bibs and hydrants, draining them and putting them away, as well as draining and winterizing campers and boats to store them for the winter. Installing stock tank heaters and filling propane tanks before winter weather hits is also beneficial.
When a storm hits and a power outage is likely, unplug all sensitive equipment so it isn’t damaged in a potential power surge.
Build a Winter Emergency Kit
An effective winter emergency kit is crucial for any household. Stock up on essentials: nonperishable food items, bottled water and medications. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends families have at least a three-day supply of food and water per person.
“My home winter emergency kit includes water, freeze-dried meals, flashlights, a jet-boil or other backpack camping stove for heating water and food,” Cliff says. “Water and freeze-dried meals have served us best. I also always keep flashlights, blankets, a winter coat, a stocking hat and gloves in the vehicle during winter months.”
Warm clothing, such as gloves, hats and thermal layers, can protect against the biting cold if you need to venture outdoors to tend to animals or assist neighbors.
For Cliff, layering is key. Multiple thinner layers will keep you warmer than one thick layer. Consider adding safety gear, such as helmets or high-visibility vests, to your kit.
“Good warm, waterproof boots are necessary for harsh winter conditions,” Cliff says. “I dress for the worst and hope for the best.”
Also include within reach a shovel for clearing snow and an ice scraper for your vehicle.
Navigating Icy Conditions
Braving the weather is often unavoidable. When you must venture out, tread carefully, whether on foot or in your vehicle.
If you’re shoveling snow, stay hydrated and take regular breaks to maintain alertness. Lineworkers know cold weather can be deceptive; you might not realize you’re getting fatigued or dehydrated until it’s too late.
“To stay focused and alert when out in inclement weather, especially for longer periods, it is important to keep your core temperature up, rest when you can and then caffeinate—in large quantities—when you can’t,” Cliff says.
If driving, check your tires prior to the winter season so your vehicle is in good condition and can manage icy roads. Be aware of others—including lineworkers, who might be working to restore power—drive slowly and remove potential distractions. If you encounter downed lines, always assume they are live. Steer clear of the lines, and call your utility to report the damage.
Remember that your safety, and the safety of your community, is more important than arriving early to your destination. Always check the weather forecast to know what to expect.
Winter weather can be unpredictable. By understanding the risks associated with winter storms and taking steps to mitigate those risks, you can ensure your family stays safe and warm.
Anatomy of a Power Outage
By Scott Flood
Moments ago, a stray bolt of lightning connected a menacing cloud with a power pole about a mile east of your home. Your lights flickered briefly before going out. Things become eerily quiet as all your home’s devices equipped with motors and fans stop providing their constant symphony of background noise.
You’re experiencing a power outage, so you reach for your phone and call your electric utility. Good move. Sometimes, consumers don’t call because they assume their neighbors will. However, the more who call, the more quickly the utility is able to pinpoint the outage location.
Back at the office, the utility’s grid system operator noticed the sudden pause at the moment 300 million volts of lightning danced around a transformer, and they’re able to triangulate the location of the outage. The system estimates around 500 consumers are in the dark as a line crew tosses their dinners aside and steers their trucks in that direction.
Thirty minutes later, the lineworkers slowly drive along a stretch of road, keeping one eye on traffic while inspecting every pole, wire and transformer. In another eight minutes, they stop and step out for a closer look. The mystery is solved with one glance at the burn mark across the surface of the transformer. Readying the truck and ensuring it’s safe, they move closer.
If you watch the lineworkers, you might mistakenly assume they’re not motivated. After all, you’re dealing with a power outage you want to end as soon as possible. But there’s a good reason the lineworkers aren’t rushing or running around.
Power lines carry high-voltage electricity. It’s safe when all elements of the system are in good working order, but it’s potentially deadly when that’s not the case. Lineworkers approach what they do deliberately, efficiently and—most of all—safely. Every action is carefully planned so they can spot potential hazards. They follow standard procedures and safety requirements to ensure repair is effective and sound. The work may take a little extra time, but it means they’ll make it home safely at the end of the day (or night).
Less than an hour after finding the cause of the outage, the lineworkers load their tools and gear back onto the trucks. This time, the problem was easy to spot, the repair was fairly straightforward, and the weather cooperated. But no two outages are exactly alike. The next could be in severe weather or on a remote segment off the main road. It could involve a fallen tree that needs to be cut with chainsaws or a broken pole that needs to be replaced.
Driving back to the utility, the lineworkers watch the passing homes and smile. The warm glows coming from the windows means the power’s back on again.
Lightning isn’t the only threat to the electric system. Outages can occur from a variety of causes, including fallen trees, vehicle crashes, extreme weather and even curious critters, such as squirrels.
Electric utilities invest in technology and equipment designed to protect the power grid and prevent outages from plunging your home into darkness. But when the power does go out, lineworkers put themselves at risk to return your life to normal.