Over the coming days, we expect a major winter storm to affect Santa Cruz County alongside much of California. The National Weather Service forecasts that Santa Cruz may receive up to 3 or 4 inches of rain and high winds exceeding 45mph, with impacts to our area beginning this Wednesday (Jan. 31) and continuing through Thursday (Feb. 1). The upcoming storm has the potential to significantly impact our community.
The UCSC Office of Emergency Management (OEM) regularly engages with our local and statewide partners to ensure we are aware and prepared for storm events. We ask that you take a moment to check that your CruzID Information is up-to-date. This will ensure that important campus messaging gets to you across your devices.
Many of our students, staff, and faculty live off-campus in Santa Cruz County or neighboring counties. Similar to our emergency notification system, our neighbors have alert systems that will inform you about significant impacts in those areas.
- Santa Cruz County - CruzAware
- Santa Clara County - AlertSCC
- Monterey County - Alert Monterey County
- Other Counties - CalAlerts.org
With this upcoming storm, there is a likelihood of power outages affecting both the campus and nearby residential communities. While our campus specialists and utility providers aim to minimize the frequency and duration of outages, there is always a possibility for them to occur.
In advance of this storm event, we recommend that members of our community take action to address both the potential disruption to your regular routine and minimize any impacts to your safety.
The Office of Emergency Management website contains detailed, updated guidance on how to prepare and respond to power outages. We invite you to review our updated Utility Shutdown or Failure webpage for information on steps you can take now to address how this upcoming storm may impact you.
Finally, we encourage everyone to note the following:
- Essential updates will be sent to the community via phone calls, text messages, and emails.
- There is an increased risk of power and internet outages.
- Roads may be closed or congested. Plan for possible delays and drive carefully. Do not drive on flooded roadways.
- If conditions are unsafe, do not take unnecessary risks to come to campus – contact your instructor or supervisor.
We wish you a safe week ahead. Stay dry and warm, Slugs!
