The National Weather Service in San Francisco has issued a Red Flag Warning which has been extended until 8 AM Saturday.
The National Weather Service extended its Red Flag warning for much of the Bay Area through 8 a.m. Saturday due to gusty winds and above-average temperatures.
In an email to the Exedra on Friday afternoon, Piedmont Fire Chief Bret Black assured the community that the department will continue elevated staffing through tomorrow morning. As always, Black reminded residents to exercise an abundance of caution: Be prepared for wildfire evacuation and have a GO BAG ready! Learn more at www.readyforwildfire.org.
Parts of Sonoma, Napa, Marin, Solano, Contra Costa, Alameda, San Mateo, Santa Cruz and Santa Clara counties are affected by the Red Flag warning, which signals when the danger of a wildfire sparking and spreading is heightened.
Hot, dry conditions are expected to pair with 15-30 mph winds in the mountains and 5 to 15 mph winds in the Bay Area’s valleys to make it easier for fires to start. Wind gusts are expected to reach up to 55 mph in the mountains and 30 mph in the valleys.
Despite the fire concern, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District said Thursday it does not expect air quality to be adversely affected on Friday. The BAAQMD did not issue a Spare the Air alert for Friday, but said it will be closely monitoring the region’s air quality for the adverse effects of smoke from the August Complex Fire and the Creek Fire.
PG&E shut off power for about 41,000 customers in 24 counties on Wednesday and Thursday in anticipation of this week’s hot temperatures and gusty winds. The utility had originally anticipated some 54,000 customers would be affected, including some in Alameda, Contra Costa, Monterey, Napa, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Solano and Sonoma counties.
A spokesperson for PG&E did not return a request for the current number of customers affected by the Public Safety Power Shutoffs, but the utility said Thursday that around 10,000 customers were expected to regain power that evening.
The additional customers affected by the shutoffs were expected to have their power restored by late Friday at the latest. Those affected by the power shutoff have access to PG&E-run community resource facilities that will offer restrooms, charging capabilities for medical equipment and electronics, Wi-Fi, bottled water and non-perishable food.
Resource center attendees are advised to follow state and local public health policies to prevent the coronavirus’ spread, including avoiding mixing of households and wearing a face covering.
PG&E customers can find out their anticipated shutoff status at pge.com/pspsupdates.
Critical fire weather conditions are possible mid to late this week across the higher elevations of the North and East Bay as well as the Santa Cruz Mountains. Some of these winds will possibly mix down into the North Bay and East Bay Valleys.
- WIND…North to northeast winds 10 to 20 mph with gusts of 30 mph.
- HUMIDITY…Daytime humidity values will drop as low as 10 to 20 percent with little to no nighttime recoveries.
- IMPACTS…Any fires that start will likely spread rapidly due to the combination of dry fuels, strong and gusty north- northeasterly winds, and very low humidities.
This story was updated on Friday afternoon.
According to PG&E’s forecast, Piedmont is not expected to be affected by a Public Safety Power Shutoff. Visit pgealerts.alerts.pge.com/outages/map to learn more
