CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Power outages and weather are closely connected in the Carolinas. Severe weather can cause power outages and the root cause is often trees.
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Winter storms in the Carolinas can bring a mix of snow, sleet, and freezing rain but the biggest threat is ice on trees and other vegetation.
Logan Kureczka, a spokesperson for Duke Energy, said while eight inches of snow can weigh down tree branches it takes significantly less ice to cause damage.
“Ice is the biggest factor because if you have just a quarter of an inch of ice sitting on a tree branch, it can bring down a limb, and honestly sometimes an entire tree," Kureczka explained. "AI there’s a power line in the vicinity, it can take down that power line too. It can take out one customer or it can take out thousands.”
The impacts of ice depend on how much ice accumulates:
- A quarter inch of ice or less can cause scattered power outages.
- Up to a half inch of ice accumulation can break tree limbs and cause numerous outages.
- More than a half inch of ice can be crippling with widespread tree damage and potentially thousands of people without power.
Half an inch of ice can weigh 500 pounds on power lines.
The weight of ice becomes a compounding factor when combined with winds, which can make wires sway. This is known as galloping and often results in power outages.
When winds climb to at least 30 mph, crews cannot operate the bucket trucks used to restore service, according to Kureczka.
Kureczka said Duke Energy is starting to implement new technology to help reduce the number of outages.
"One of the ways we’re doing that is through a technology called smart self-healing technology," Kureczka said. "It works almost like a GPS in your car. So when that outage happens - like on one of our circuits - it will automatically reroute the customers on that circuit to another circuit."
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In 2023, this technology saved customers two million hours of outage time, according to Kureczka.
Whenever severe weather occurs, the WCNC Charlotte Weather team will keep you Weather Aware across all screens, including the WCNC Charlotte app, where you can stream severe weather coverage on your cell phone even when the power is out.
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