Bay Area Wildfire Threat: Red Flag Warning Issued; PG&E Cancels Planned North Bay Shutoffs
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- A cold front passing through the San Francisco Bay Area will whip up winds in the tinder-dry San Francisco Bay Area hills Sunday night, triggering a red flag fire warning.
The National Weather Service has issued the Red Flag Warning to begin at 11 p.m. Sunday and remain in place until 5 p.m. on Monday.
"Northeast winds will develop before midnight across the North and East Bay hills," the weather service said in its latest forecast. "Winds will increase overnight into Monday morning and overspread much of the Bay Area."
"The strongest winds will remain in the hills but also drop into lower elevations including the coastline from Sonoma to San Mateo," NWS forecasters added. "The strongest winds are expected during the morning hours of Monday with widespread gusts to 45 mph and localized gusts to 60 mph in the hills."
According to the weather service, winds will be 15-to-25 mph with frequent gusts up to 45 mph above 1000 feet.
"Local gusts to 60 mph for wind favored locations around Mount Saint Helena, Mount Diablo and Mount Tamalpais," the service said.
The gusty winds and low humidity levels will be coupled with the drought conditions in the San Francisco Bay Area that has left the hills filled with tinder dry fuel.
Red Flag: Update - while peak offshore winds are expected overnight, winds are expected to remain offshore and breezy through the day and humidiy levels will be dry due to afternoon heating. Therefore, the #RedFlagWarning has been extended to 5 PM PST Monday#CAwx #CAfire pic.twitter.com/Fr9r6G60IQ
— NWS Bay Area ???? (@NWSBayArea) December 6, 2020
Napa, Solano and Lake counties currently are experiencing extreme drought conditions according to the U.S. Drought Monitor map released late this week. The reminder of the San Francisco Bay Area has fallen into the severe drought status.
"Long range model trends are looking mainly dry for the next 7-10 days," the National Weather Service office in Monterey tweeted. "This week's Drought Monitor shows much of the West under drought conditions. Since January 1st SFO has reported 4.47 inches of rain (over 11 months) which is 12.58 inches below normal."
On Friday 132,000 PG&E customers in 15 counties and five tribal communities had been notified of a potential PSPS. Saturday, that number was reduced to
92,000 customers. On Sunday, PG&E again reduced the potential scope of the PSPS 8,500 customers in five counties: Fresno, Madera, Mariposa, Tulare and Tuolumne.
Approximately 2,500 customers in Napa, Lake and Sonoma counties were removed from the scope of the event. The revised shutoff plan is "Due to substantial changes overnight in terms of the severity and location of the strongest winds along with improved humidity," the utility said.
No Bay Area counties remained on the revised list of PSPS that PG&E released Sunday.