# A big power outage in Los Angeles? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 23, 2006, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-big-power-outage-in-los-angeles/365678 "2006-07-23T05:46:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-big-power-outage-in-los-angeles/365678/1 "2006-07-23T05:46:53Z")
Does anyone know anything about it? MySpace is down and they had a splash screen a while ago saying there was a power outage and to be patient. Then, one of my ISPs is having problems and in the support section they have a notice saying > [@](#): > > All systems are disrupted > > Due to a power outage in Los Angeles, our data center is running on the backup generator. Most of the systems are running, but you may experience downtime with your server. That ISP and its data center is located in Arizona! Any skinny? ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-big-power-outage-in-los-angeles/365678/2 "2006-07-23T06:21:46Z")
Well, I’m in the heart of L.A. proper and I haven’t witnessed anything unusual. Doesn’t mean nothing unusual is going on though. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-big-power-outage-in-los-angeles/365678/3 "2006-07-23T06:57:09Z")
I did hear a brief news snippet on the radio this evening around midnight eastern that due to excessive heat in California there were indeed some blackouts. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-big-power-outage-in-los-angeles/365678/4 "2006-07-23T07:48:56Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > I did hear a brief news snippet on the radio this evening around midnight eastern that due to excessive heat in California there were indeed some blackouts. Ah, thanks. I had seen a report (but didn’t read it) that California was having a bad time of it due to the heat, so that makes sense. Rigamarole, I’m glad it’s ok where you are. ---
**Author:** ![Manatee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/50afbb/32.png) [@Manatee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manatee)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-big-power-outage-in-los-angeles/365678/5 "2006-07-23T08:17:59Z")
Parts of Toluca Lake and North Hollywood were out for most of the evening. ---
**Author:** ![if6was9](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e47c2d/32.png) [@if6was9](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/if6was9)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-big-power-outage-in-los-angeles/365678/6 "2006-07-23T08:37:02Z")
Pretty much all of Yahoo! was down today. Site, email and IM. From 3 ish pm eastern til about 11 or so. Don’t know if that has anything to do with it… ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-big-power-outage-in-los-angeles/365678/7 "2006-07-23T15:09:38Z")
> [@Manatee](#): > > Parts of Toluca Lake and North Hollywood were out for most of the evening. Yikes. We have been running the AC damn near 24 hours a day, and my house never got below 76 last night… This morning is cooler by far then any morning in the last two weeks (less than 80 F at 8:00 am), but it feels stormy and “wierd…” The humidity is a bitch, too. Stay cool, everybody. If you have elderly relatives, drive over and make sure they are okay. ---
**Author:** ![Campion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@Campion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Campion)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-big-power-outage-in-los-angeles/365678/8 "2006-07-23T16:29:08Z")
I’m in South Pas and we lost power for a while yesterday. It got up to 107 outside yesterday, so I imagine the pull on the power was pretty heavy. Gotta love summer in California… ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-big-power-outage-in-los-angeles/365678/9 "2006-07-23T16:45:50Z")
Yeah, but where the hell did this humidity come from?!? I’m down in Orange County, and yesterday was, like, San Bernardino hot… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-big-power-outage-in-los-angeles/365678/10 "2006-07-23T20:39:23Z")
So, have they started those “rolling blackouts” again, or was this just a regular blackout? ---
**Author:** ![Faruiza](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@Faruiza](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Faruiza)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-big-power-outage-in-los-angeles/365678/11 "2006-07-23T20:45:59Z")
[QUOTE=EJsGirl] **snip** but it feels stormy and “wierd…”[UOTE] Weird is right. I went out a little while ago, and by the looks of things, it was MY back yard, but I could swear it was like, _Florida_. I wouldn’t mind the heat and stuff (Thank the air conditioning gods) because it being the weekend, I don’t have to go outside for anything if I don’t want to, but I sure wish those ominous looking clouds would let loose with a sound and light show, or at least some measurable _rain_. ---
**Author:** ![Faruiza](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@Faruiza](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Faruiza)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-big-power-outage-in-los-angeles/365678/12 "2006-07-23T20:47:31Z")
I blame the coding on the heat. Really. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-big-power-outage-in-los-angeles/365678/13 "2006-07-23T21:23:43Z")
MySpace now has this message up: > [@](#): > > Tom Latest Update: 01:38PM PST, Sunday, July 23th. > hello everyone - so there was a power outage in LA yesterday. unfortunately it directly hit the data center where myspace’s servers are located. lots of people were affected. the backup power failed and that’s why myspace has been screwy since yesterday afternoon. we are still working to get everything back in order. i know what most of the problems are, it’s just giong to take awhile to fix them. thx for your patience! I admit to being one of 88 million people who were jonesin’ for MySpace last night. And my main web site’s ISPs (the one in Arizona) was affected too so I couldn’t ftp anything for a new section I’m building. Giving up in frustration and going to sleep was the answer. Everything was ok when I got up. Cheers to people who work at power stations and other places who have to jump to and get things fixed when these things happen. ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-big-power-outage-in-los-angeles/365678/14 "2006-07-23T22:14:16Z")
> [@Faruiza](#): > > Weird is right. I went out a little while ago, and by the looks of things, it was MY back yard, but I could swear it was like, _Florida_. And we also had an earthquake this morning! Just a little one, though- about 3.6, centered out by Lake Elsinor. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-big-power-outage-in-los-angeles/365678/15 "2006-07-23T22:22:28Z")
We’ve been having occasional short outages here mixed with brownouts today. Just enough to make me remember that I never hooked up the UPS for my network equipment. Two hours runtime on the UPS powering the computers is useless if the switch is down. :smack: It’s been sitting on a shelf near the network stuff for a couple months now. :smack: :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-big-power-outage-in-los-angeles/365678/16 "2006-07-23T22:45:38Z")
We haven’t had any problems out in the beach cities, but we had to change plans from brunch and swimming to just brunch with my cousins in Orange this morning, due to pounding rain and lightning storms, which also caused their power to go out for a while. Driving through the storm to get there was no picnic, let me tell you. So the blackouts might be less about the heat and more about the lightning storms. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2006, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-big-power-outage-in-los-angeles/365678/17 "2006-07-24T00:28:08Z")
We’re having bizarre weather south of San Jose, too. 106 degrees and humid, with threatening thunderheads towards the east. My poor tomatoes are showing sunscald for the first time ever, and I’ve had to create some jury-rigged sunshades so they don’t die of sunstroke. This is _not_ typical summer weather in California. I wish we would have a tremendous thunderstorm to break the heat and oppressive feeling, and I’m crossing my fingers that we don’t have a power outage. Otherwise I’ll have to sleep in a bathtub full of cool water tonight.