Snowfall forecast, National Weather Service

Weather forecasts are a tricky business, and winter weather can be some of the most difficult to predict. A thunderstorm forecast might be off by 30 miles, and no one bats an eye, but a shift of 30 miles makes a huge difference in whether one sees snow, sleet, freezing rain or just plain ice. Much of the planning around those predictions must be fluid and subject to change.

At Alabama Power, we can’t always wait until the last moment to suddenly “be ready.” Our customers count on us to be on the job the moment there is a need. That’s why we look at a number of factors and triggers, to appropriately scale our response.

On a “blue sky” day, crews are staffed to appropriately handle regular maintenance and upgrades near their crew headquarters. This includes the sudden and immediate needs that can arise when a car hits a pole, a squirrel chews an insulator or a piece of equipment fails. However, when the local need gets beyond the capabilities of the locally based crews, it’s time to reshuffle resources.

Days before a storm strikes, our crew leaders are looking ahead at the forecast, paying attention to the potential for conditions that would get in the way of restoring power quickly and safely. If the forecast calls for ice or other circumstances that would get in the way, crews ensure they have the appropriate equipment and access to get around.

If the potential becomes clearly dangerous, and there is a heavy need that outstrips the capacity of the local crews, the company can move personnel and equipment in advance, and pre-position the resources. And if that isn’t enough, there are additional crews we can call in from our sister companies, and through mutual assistance agreements with utilities across America.

Every outage event is an inconvenience, and the most important service interruption is yours. Our goal is to minimize that inconvenience, and get you back to work and play as soon as possible.