Power outages possible in Cedar City and Iron County after high wind, fire warnings

Stock image, Cedar City News / St. George News

ST. GEORGE — Residents of Cedar City and Iron County may need to keep candles and flashlights on standby for the next two days.

Stock photo.| Photo by Iryna Melnyk/iStock/Getty Images Plus, St. George News

Rocky Mountain Power, which handles electricity of the area, has issues what is calls a “Public Safety Power Shutoff Watch” for the area on Friday and Saturday.

With high wind and red flag warnings, Rocky Mountain Power said it is prepared the temporarily shut power down through its transmission lines if fire risk becomes too severe. Power arcs from power lines can spark wildfires, especially in windy and dry conditions.

“Rocky Mountain Power is taking additional safety precautions by directing additional personnel and resources to monitor weather impact on the system,” the statement said.

The National Weather Service has issued a red flag warning for all of Southern Utah and a high wind warning for Iron and Washington counties through 10 p.m. Saturday.

The service said southernly winds 30 to 40 mph with gusts up to 65 mph are expected.

It also said along with the wind, 5 to 10% humidity is causing critical fire weather conditions to occur, allowing for any new fire starts to spread rapidly.

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2022, all rights reserved.

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