Much of Downey and Norwalk are without power on Christmas Eve due to transformer failure

A transformer failure caused power outages in the Downey and Norwalk areas just before Christmas, affecting tens of thousands of customers.

The outage was reported in Downey at 1:35 p.m., affecting 24,187 customers, according to the Southern California Edison outage status website. The cause of the outage was listed as “storm conditions,” with restoration expected for most customers at 5 a.m. on Christmas Day.

Forecasters with the National Weather Service are predicting light rain after midnight on Christmas Eve that will dry out by the evening.

In the unincorporated area near Ada S. Nelson Elementary School in Whittier, another 12,437 customers were without power.

A transformer failure caused outages in Downey and Norwalk just before 3 p.m., Edison spokesman Jeff Monford told The Times, but power had been restored to most customers earlier in the day. “We know that any outage creates difficulties,” Monford said, adding that crews will work to restore power as quickly as possible.