Tropical Cyclone Hilary headed towards Southern California this weekend. Set your Powerwall reserve appropriately, there will be power outages.
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Hurricane Hilary
- Thread starter power.saver
- Start date
Thanks for the reminder. For me, its much better to self manage this by increasing my reserve, rather than wait to see if storm watch gets enabled.
Agreed, I never rely on Storm Watch. It will be interesting to see when/where it is activated. This type of storm is rare in Southern California.
Might also want to be prepared with a 12V battery to jump start your Powerwall should anything go wrong during an outage.
The last full blown hurricane in San Diego was 1858, but they do happen. San Diego gets its power from a relatively small number of high voltage supply lines making it more vulnerable than many locations to the impact of earthquakes or hurricane force winds.
Hurricane paths and strengths are notoriously hard to predict, especially in the eastern pacific, where the data set is small. If it were me, I would plan on food and water for at least a week.
Good luck!
All the best,
BG
Hurricane paths and strengths are notoriously hard to predict, especially in the eastern pacific, where the data set is small. If it were me, I would plan on food and water for at least a week.
Good luck!
All the best,
BG
Unfortunately we're in Hawaii until late Tuesday so will have to monitor from afar. Regardless our cat who's outside is not going to be happy about this.
As @BGbreeder said the models are pretty bad in these situations or for any low coming from the south or southwest into Socal. Winds seem the big uncertainty now depending if the center goes on shore around or south of the border or passes just west of LA.
Lots of rain so at least my panels and MY will get a little cleaner to bring it back on topic.
As @BGbreeder said the models are pretty bad in these situations or for any low coming from the south or southwest into Socal. Winds seem the big uncertainty now depending if the center goes on shore around or south of the border or passes just west of LA.
Lots of rain so at least my panels and MY will get a little cleaner to bring it back on topic.
Matt-FL
Member
I didn't have solar then, but in 2004 I was working in Aruba and was there for hurricane Ivan. It did a lot of damage to the island, so I flew home until they were ready again for me to continue work. I got home in Tampa a day ahead of... hurricane Ivan, got to experience the same hurricane twice.
Back on topic, I agree with the majority here. I don't rely on stormwatch. It is either overly sensitive or not sensitive enough. I prefer to manage my own 'storm watch' with reserves. If it looks like it will be pretty bad, I may turn on grid charging (which storm watch will also do).
My first experience with storm watch was the day after install. My settings hadn't been unlocked and I had to watch my meter spin insanely fast as it drew 15kw from the grid due to a minor thunderstorm. I couldn't turn it off, as my settings were locked. I think it drew 54kWh before it was done. Since it was only a day or two after install, it basically fully charged my batteries from install charge (~ 15%) to 100%. I had texted my Tesla installer and he was able to unlock my settings so I could adjust.
Back on topic, I agree with the majority here. I don't rely on stormwatch. It is either overly sensitive or not sensitive enough. I prefer to manage my own 'storm watch' with reserves. If it looks like it will be pretty bad, I may turn on grid charging (which storm watch will also do).
My first experience with storm watch was the day after install. My settings hadn't been unlocked and I had to watch my meter spin insanely fast as it drew 15kw from the grid due to a minor thunderstorm. I couldn't turn it off, as my settings were locked. I think it drew 54kWh before it was done. Since it was only a day or two after install, it basically fully charged my batteries from install charge (~ 15%) to 100%. I had texted my Tesla installer and he was able to unlock my settings so I could adjust.
skepticcyclist
Member
That never actually made landfall. So there still has never been a hurricane to hit CA. The closest was a tropical storm around Long Beach in 1938
skepticcyclist
Member
skepticcyclist
Member
I am just now getting an opportunity to log in (very busy day with my actual job, didnt have time for this unpaid one here (lol). Storm Watch triggered on my system at 8:35am this morning (08/18/2023). My batteries were already full as I had increased my reserve to 100% yesterday, but I got a notice from Tesla that my system went into stormwatch mode.
HankE-LA
Member
I’m in Louisiana. As such I have extensive experience with tropical weather. My suggestion is to be self sufficient for a minimum of three days. A week is much better. Self sufficient to the point that you can get by without any utilities or cell service. Typically cell voice goes out as priority goes to first responders. As long as the cell infrastructure remains intact you may, repeat may, be able to text.
One tip is to string holiday lights through out your home. They draw little power and give off enough light to so you’re not stumbling around in the dark.
With that said, here’s a meme that describes how we handle tropical weather. It is the truth.
One tip is to string holiday lights through out your home. They draw little power and give off enough light to so you’re not stumbling around in the dark.
With that said, here’s a meme that describes how we handle tropical weather. It is the truth.
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Unfortunately there is no Waffle House in California, so there is no Waffle House Index
HankE-LA
Member
It’s real thing. In Ida there was a Waffle House that was running on an ICE generator. Making coffee and washing the dishes using bottled water. Power went out to the pump for the local water tower. FEMA set up camp nearby.Unfortunately there is no Waffle House in California, so there is no Waffle House Index
I'm from the Midwest, I know it's a real thing haha.
But it's sad that California has no Waffle Houses
skepticcyclist
Member
And now the watches have been upgraded to warnings
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Yea, I opted out. Rain isn’t going to arrive until late Saturday. Stormwatch was far too early. I can manage battery level myself
HankE-LA
Member
Totally normal. A watch means something is coming your way but we’re not sure exactly when and where. A warning is that the forecasters believe you’re going to get hit in the next 72 hours. If I’m reading the forecasts right you should be expecting a tropical storm or a weak Cat 1. Both are rain events with just enough wind to piss you off. Down here in South Louisiana we just pick up the patio furniture, open a good bottle of bourbon, and enjoy the ride.
skepticcyclist
Member
Just to clarify, I was just informing others that it was updated at that time. I am aware of the difference. We get watches and warnings all the time for wind, flooding, winter storms, and even fires. We in SoCal even had a blizzard warning last year (my profile pic is taken at a ski resort in Los Angeles County.)
Just make sure you have gas if you have a generator. Was in Florida in 2005 when we had three hurricanes back to back. Lost power for 3 weeks at a time, got it back for a little while and then lost it for another 2 weeks. Now all of our gas stations have backup power.
This will be a true test of the supercharging network, if millions are to evacuate, the regular lines for gas cars will be three and four hours and then stations will run out and not get anything for a week. Don't know how long the wait will be at superchargers if the same situation comes up. Just make sure your cars are charged up all the way, since you can run the air conditioner on them in the event the power at your home goes out.
It's times like this I wish that Tesla would let us connect our cars to power our homes like Ford does with their F-150s
This will be a true test of the supercharging network, if millions are to evacuate, the regular lines for gas cars will be three and four hours and then stations will run out and not get anything for a week. Don't know how long the wait will be at superchargers if the same situation comes up. Just make sure your cars are charged up all the way, since you can run the air conditioner on them in the event the power at your home goes out.
It's times like this I wish that Tesla would let us connect our cars to power our homes like Ford does with their F-150s
