LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — Northern and Central California are bracing for a significant storm set to hit on Wednesday and Thursday, bringing with it a large amount of rain.

The National Weather Service said a very powerful Pacific cyclone “is rapidly strengthening and heading closer to the West Coast.”

The storm will bring “heavy rain and flooding, strong to damaging winds, very large surf, isolated strong thunderstorms and heavy, high elevation snow,” according to the forecast.

The forecast calls for up to 6.5 inches of rain this week, 4 inches of it on Wednesday and Thursday alone.

The intense rainfall in the forecast is expected to be associated with a moderate to strong atmospheric river, the National Weather Service said.

This follows a wet week in Lake County that also brought several inches of rain, leading to saturated soils and concerns for flooding.

The National Weather Service has issued a flood watch for southern Lake County that’s in effect from late Tuesday through Thursday afternoon.

The agency also has issued a wind advisory that runs from 7 a.m. Wednesday to 10 a.m. Thursday for both the southern and northern area of Lake County due to southeast winds of between 25 to 35 miles per hour and the potential for gusts of up to 60 miles per hour.

During the Lakeport City Council meeting on Tuesday evening, city staff gave the council an update on the outlook for this week as they prepared to respond to the storm.

Lakeport’s city staff and other local officials participated with the county of Lake, the National Weather Service, Pacific Gas and Electric and Mediacom in a county Office of Emergency Services meeting on Tuesday to plan for the situation.

Lakeport Police Chief Brad Rasmussen said the storm is expected to hit at about 4 a.m. Wednesday.

He said his department and city staff were preparing to respond.

Public Works Director Ron Ladd said the city will have extra crews on call, and they’ve already positioned generators at city facilities and readied other equipment — from wood chippers to barricades — in preparation for the large amount of rain and high winds in the forecast.

Ladd said he’s also met with Public Works staff and they’re ready to handle the storm situation.

“I feel like we’re as prepared as we can be,” Ladd said.

Lakeport City Manager Kevin Ingram said it’s highly likely there will be high water in flood-prone areas due to the storm.

He urged people to be careful on Wednesday.

Pacific Gas and Electric said Tuesday night that it has more than 3,000 of its employees, and contract and mutual aid personnel mobilized to respond to the storm.

Those preparations are in place following work to restore nearly of its 500,000 customers who lost power during the strong New Year’s Eve storm last Saturday, PG&E said.

The company said that poised to respond to outages are approximately 360 four-person electric crews, 397 troublemen, distribution line technicians and system inspectors who serve as the utility’s first responders and another 800 personnel who will monitor electric incidents for public safety.

Hundreds of PG&E employees also are serving in roles in the company’s emergency operations center as well as in regional and divisional emergency centers. Approximately 250 vegetation-management personnel also are at the ready.

PG&E said it is currently being supported by 16 crews from Southern California Edison and has requested mutual-aid assistance from additional West Coast power providers.

The company said its customers can view real-time outage information at PG&E’s online outage center and search by a specific address, by city or by county. This site has been updated to include support in 16 languages.

PG&E customers also can sign up for outage notifications by text, email, or phone. PG&E will let customers know the cause of an outage, when crews are on their way, the estimated restoration time and when power has been restored.

Community members are offered the following storm safety tips:

Never touch downed wires: If you see a downed power line, assume it is energized and extremely dangerous. Do not touch or try to move it — and keep children and animals away. Report downed power lines immediately by calling 9-1-1 and then PG&E at 1-800-743-5002.

Use generators safely: Customers with standby electric generators should ensure they are properly installed by a licensed electrician in a well-ventilated area. Improperly installed generators pose a significant danger to customers, as well as crews working on power lines. If using portable generators, be sure they are in a well-ventilated area.

Use flashlights, not candles: During a power outage, use battery-operated flashlights and not candles, due to the risk of fire. And keep extra batteries on hand. If you must use candles, please keep them away from drapes, lampshades, animals and small children. Do not leave candles unattended.

Have a backup phone: If you have a telephone system that requires electricity to work, such as a cordless phone or answering machine, plan to have a standard telephone or cellular phone ready as a backup. Having a portable charging device helps to keep your cellphone running.
Have fresh drinking water and ice: Freeze plastic containers filled with water to make blocks of ice that can be placed in your refrigerator/freezer to prevent food spoilage.

Turn off appliances: If you experience an outage, unplug or turn off all electrical appliances to avoid overloading circuits and to prevent fire hazards when power is restored. Simply leave a single lamp on to alert you when power returns.

Safely clean up: After the storm has passed, be sure to safely clean up. Never touch downed wires and always call 8-1-1 or visit 811express.com at least two full business days before digging to have all underground utilities safely marked.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.