UPDATE: Lighter Winds Lead To Early End of Red Flag Warning in North and East Bay Hills
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- Weather officials in the Bay Area announced the Red Flag Warning in place for the North and East Bay hills since Friday evening has expired early Tuesday afternoon.
The Bay Area office of the National Weather Service tweeted shortly before 1 p.m. that the Red Flag Warning had expired due to lighter winds.
Due to lighter winds, we have allowed the Red Flag Warning to expire.
— NWS Bay Area ???? (@NWSBayArea) May 11, 2021
However, we are still dealing with very dry conditions.
Please remember to be fire weather aware!#CAwx pic.twitter.com/C0hIQNufcC
Officials noted that while it was still very dry, winds have died down to below the warning threshold.
The Bay Area saw a number of fires across the region since the Red Flag Warning went into effect Friday night. The warning was initially set to expire Monday night, but weather officials extended it to Tuesday evening at 6 p.m. over the weekend.
The issued warning was one of the earliest Red Flag Warnings the Bay Area has seen in years.
Traditionally, the month of May has been when homeowners would manage and cut down on vegetation. But this year's tinder-dry drought conditions and the past weekend's hot, windy weather added urgency to their preparations.
On Monday, Governor Gavin Newsom declared a drought emergency in 41 counties, including Alameda and Contra Costa counties.
Officials fear an extraordinarily dry spring presages a wildfire season like last year, when flames burned a record 6,562 square miles.
"The hots are getting a lot hotter in this state, the dries are getting a lot drier," Newsom said. "We have a conveyance system, a water system, that was designed for a world that no longer exists."
Cooler weather and higher humidity has been forecast for later this week, which should help mitigate the fire threat for the time being.