Last January, 70-mph winds and rain ripped through the region for two days – the highest velocities clocked in a half-century – causing massive power outages, downing trees and closing Interstate 80 for hours amid blinding snow.

The National Weather Service says early forecasts for this winter offer no obvious signs of similar drama.

"Back-to-back would be incredible," meteorologist Johnnie Powell said. "If it happened, I'd play the lottery."

Utility companies and highway agencies, however, can't count on sheer luck.

The folks who keep our lights on and roadways drivable say they are checking their lessons-learned lists and gearing up for what winter has in store.

Sacramento County road crews this week launched Pothole Sweeps Week, sealing roads against winter rain.

The state Department of Transportation reports it is stockpiling brine solution to use in the mountains, as an experiment, instead of salt granules on Interstate 80 in hopes of melting road ice faster.

And Sacramento city officials are conducting a laborious tree-trimming program to minimize potential disaster from limbs tumbling onto houses, cars and fences.

But the most noteworthy reaction to last winter's storms is coming from two major electrical utilities – the Sacramento Municipal Utility District and Pacific Gas and Electric Co.

Outraged residents in darkened homes complained they could not get through on the phone, and when they finally did, utility operators often had little information about when electricity would be restored.

In response, both agencies are launching online Web maps that will show outage areas and offer estimates of how long before electricity is restored in each area.

Of course, it normally takes electricity to get online, so the companies will also have alternate routes to vital information.

PG&E's map is up and running, but the link is hard to find from the company's home page. Customers can get to it at www.pge.com/storms, then click the "outage map" link.

PG&E spokesman Brian Swanson cautioned that getting accurate restoration estimates may take awhile during major storms.

"The first 24 to 48 hours will be a challenge," he said. "That is our assessment period."

For PG&E customers without Internet access, the agency offers a hotline, (800) 743-5002, to report outages and get restoration estimates.

SMUD officials also are constructing an online program for customers. It is not expected to be up and running until late next month, with added features early next year.

When fully operational, the system will allow customers to type in their address and get localized information.

The agency said it also intends to have more customer phone representatives available for major storms, and has improved internal communications so operators can give better restoration estimates.

"Improved internal and external communications, that's the big change," SMUD distribution head Ron Saufferer said.

SMUD's goal will be to tell customers if an outage will last less than six hours, less than 24 hours, less than three days or more than three days, Saufferer said.

SMUD offers storm advice at www.smud.org, on the "outages" tab. The agency's power outage reporting number is (888) 456-SMUD. The general weekday customer service number is (888) 742-SMUD.

Meanwhile, some seasonal maintenance is happening in a climate of limited funds. State and local officials lament that for years they've not had money for basic work.

Sacramento city crews, in particular, are suffering "pothole inflation." Two years ago, it cost them an average of $58 per pothole patch job. This year, they say, it's costing $62 per pothole.

Sacramento County road officials say they are talking about a possible sales tax measure, half of which would simply go to road maintenance. That tax request is at least two years away.

Call The Bee's Tony Bizjak, (916) 321-1059.