When the Lights Go Out: Power Outages Turn Amarillo, Texas Panhandle into a Disco Ball

The heat dome over the Lone Star state is in full effect, that much is clear.

I came home earlier this afternoon to get some work done and.....the lights were out.

Crud. I thought to myself.

I drove across town to a friend's house whose power was still on (and had working Wi-Fi), the traffic lights for several major intersections were out and it was a chaotic free-for-all. Although I enjoy witnessing a good public spectacle every now and then, I decided to play it safe and opted to take the back roads. Because, well.....Amarillo drivers. Enough said.

And apparently, it went dark in quite a few places around town, including several Walmarts, Sam's Club, and more.

The Cause? Manhattan Substation

According to our fleet friends at KAMR, the outages are due to a tripped substation. It was also reported that "The majority of the outages are occurring east of I-27, south of I-40, north of SE 34th Ave. and east of S Ross."

A quick look at the Xcel outage map confirms this (www.outagemap-xcelenergy.com/outagemap for anyone who needs to report an outage)

But what I did notice while checking the outage map was that there are quite a few other area communities that seem to be in the dark as well.

Screenshot from the map at about 5:50pm, June 27, 2023

I also recall the smatterings of power outages from last week, which left the Puckett West division without power for a short period of time.

Considering today was 103 degrees, I can only imagine there's only going to be more outages. Thankfully, the Xcel crews have been Johnny on the Spot with getting power restored. Fingers crossed that they may always be so swift for the rest of the Sweltering Summer Blackouts of 2023.

In the meantime, I know exactly what song I'll play on speakerphone the next time the (wait for it) .....lights go out.