Power outages hit Madera County near the communities of Oakhurst and Coarsegold on Thursday night and continued Friday morning.

According to PG&E, about 5,800 customers are without power.

“We are investigating the cause of the outages, but we know that due to fire risk we will have to patrol the entire length of all the affected circuits before power can be restored,” said PG&E spokesman Denny Boyles.

The blackouts began about 9 p.m. Thursday following a lightning storm.

Customers in the affected areas should expect low-level helicopter flights as part of PG&E’s patrol and inspection efforts, Boyles said.

#cloudtogroundlightning in the #centralvalley #foothills #maderacounty tonight. @NWSHanford @wxmann @Weather_West @StormHour @StormHourMark @US_Stormwatch @RobMayeda @CAFireScanner @CphilpottCraig @FirePhotoGirl #wxspotter #lightning pic.twitter.com/ZqtmvUFvVy

— Andrew Yrigollen (@andyjump1118) September 10, 2021

A Few Raindrops on Valley Floor

The National Weather Service in Hanford said that the storm hit both the Sierra and communities on the Valley floor.

While Fresno and Clovis locations recorded just received just .01 inch of rain, Edwards Air Force Base in the Mojave Desert recorded 1.35 inches.

You can check the storm precipitation totals at this link.

Radar is tracking showers and thunderstorms developing over the SJ valley. Lightning, rain and small hail was reported in NE Visalia. The storms are moving northward around 20 mph from Bakersfield to Fresno. pic.twitter.com/sVdssWhNnw

— NWS Hanford (@NWSHanford) September 10, 2021