Strong winds from the east are forecast for Saturday evening through Monday morning in the Bay Area even as another major wildfire burns in the region, according to the National Weather Service.
The strongest winds are forecast for Saturday evening through Sunday morning in the highest peaks in the North Bay and East Bay. But weather officials said that strong winds will occur in the Santa Cruz Mountains, the San Mateo coast, and strong gusts are expected in adjacent valleys and coastal locations too.
Fire has burned 16,000 acres in northern Sonoma County in the Kincade Fire. On the heels of a power shutoff Wednesday in the North Bay and San Mateo County, PG&E is planning to shut off power to about 48,000 customers in Contra Costa County Saturday night because of the coming weather.
Thursday evening, PG&E chief meteorologist Scott Strenfel said that the wind event will be the strongest offshore event this season “by a large margin.” Weather officials are forecasting critical fire conditions and that the winds may be the strongest since the ones that fanned the North Bay fires in 2017.