SACRAMENTO, Calif — Update: 7:30pm
The NWS has upgraded the fire weather watch to a Red Flag Warning for all areas shaded in red. A Red Flag Warning means that critical fire weather conditions are either occurring now or will shortly. A combination of strong winds, low relative humidity, and warm temperatures can contribute to extreme fire behavior.
Gusty northerly and easterly winds will develop over portions of the Sacramento Valley, the northern Sierra and western foothills, and the Coastal Range late Saturday evening into Monday morning. Daytime humidities will be extremely low in the single digits to teens with poor overnight humidity recoveries. The combination of wind, low humidity, and hot conditions will result in critical fire weather conditions. These conditions may impact ongoing wildfires. Extreme caution should be taken to prevent new fire starts.
Original Story:
The National Weather Service (NWS) has issued a fire weather watch starting at 11 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 26, through 8 a.m. Monday, Sept. 28.
During this watch, gusty winds along with near triple-digit high temperatures will increase the opportunity for fire danger throughout areas of Northern California. Gusts are expected to reach up to 30 mph, with poor humidity recovery overnight in the range of 20-40%.
These weather conditions could lead to easier fires and an increase for potential rapid fire spread. California has already seen more than 8,000 wildfires scorch 5,600 square miles this year.
Due to anticipated weather conditions, Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) said it may initiate power shutoffs to 21,000 customers in Butte, Plumas and Yuba counties. Customers in the Bay Area and southern locations of PG&E's coverage should not be imapcted.
"PG&E meteorology is closely tracking the potential for dry northerly winds to develop Saturday afternoon/evening and continue Sunday and possibly Monday across Northern California," PG&E said in a statement on their website Wednesday.
PG&E’s equipment has been linked to more than 20 wildfires, including the deadly 2018 Camp Fire. The utility initiates its PSPS plan to de-energize transmission lines during fire-favorable weather conditions. That means more communities are facing the potential for power shutoffs as PG&E preemptively shuts off the power, waits for the weather conditions to pass and then inspects every inch of the de-energized lines to make sure it’s safe to turn the power back on.
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