High Winds, Power Shutoffs, Critical Fire Conditions to begin Sunday Afternoon

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High winds, critical fire danger and large scale power shutoffs are still on track to arrive across Sonoma County, the North Bay and the greater Bay Area by Sunday evening.

PG&E PSPS POWER SHUTOFFS

As of 11AM Sunday, the most immediate impact to the region will be power shutoffs which will begin as early as 2PM Sunday in some areas, and as late as 11PM in others. Those shutoffs are expected to last through Monday, with restoration as early as Tuesday, and continuing through Wednesday according to PG&E.

For detailed information including an address lookup tool, maps of outage areas, and information on Community Resource Centers operated by PG&E, visit this PG&E page:

https://pgealerts.alerts.pge.com/updates/

RED FLAG WARNING, HIGH WIND WARNING

A period of high winds that’s expected to be the strongest of the season will begin to be felt on the high peaks of the North Bay Sunday afternoon, and grow stronger and spread to the Bay Area late on Sunday and early Monday morning. The Red Flag Warning currently in effect for the North Bay will continue through 5PM Tuesday as another burst of less intense winds is expected to arrive late on Monday.

Winds are forecast to reach 40-50 miles per hour on the highest peaks, with gusts to 70 mph or higher. Lower down, gusty winds are forecast to be felt even in the valleys of the North Bay and Bay Area. Those winds may reach 20-30 mph, with gusts as high as 40mph according to NWS forecasters.

The winds, combined with a very dry air mass, and record low fuel moisture levels will result in extreme fire danger across the region. Winds will begin to moderate early Monday morning, and decrease greatly during the day Monday but remain gusty at times through Tuesday morning.

The National Weather Service says the most critical time for fire starts will likely be with the initial burst of winds Sunday night that will stress weakened trees, powerlines and other infrastructure.

The wind event is expected to be on par with, or slightly less intense, than the winds that sparked the 2017 October Firestorm and the 2019 Kincade Fire. However this event will be more widespread in nature, with strong winds extending further south into the Bay Area, especially the hills of the East Bay.

The first image below shows the forecast for upper level winds late Sunday moving south from the Sacramento Valley, and reaching the Bay Area. The second and third images show with more detail the forecast winds along the peaks and ridges of the North Bay (about 2500 feet) at 11PM Sunday, and at 2AM Monday. By this time high winds are expected to reach the East Bay and parts of the South Bay including the Santa Cruz mountains. The last image shows the wind gust forecast through the upcoming event.