SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Strong winds will add a host of issues for the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys on Wednesday.
Wind will create fire conditions and could cause damage and outages before leaving the area Thursday.
A Red Flag Warning continues through Wednesday afternoon. PG&E has also turned off power to some customers on the west side of the Sacramento Valley to prevent its power lines from starting fires. See PG&E's shut off map HERE.
Yolo, Solano, Colusa and Plumas counties were some of the affected areas were power shutoffs happened.
As of Wednesday morning, Solano County had the most power shutoffs with 4,496 customers, following by 606 in Colusa County, 423 in Yolo County and three in Plumas County.
WHEN
Wind has moved in from a pattern change and provided gusts in the 35-45 mph range in Northern California overnight Tuesday to Wednesday.
The winds will blow especially strong early Wednesday morning. Planned and unplanned power outages may occur.
The winds will continue for much of the day but eventually dwindle by early Thursday morning.
The winds will continue for much of the day but eventually dwindle by early Thursday morning.
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IMPACT
At top of mind with any big wind event in November ahead of substantial soaking rain is the fire risk. Unfortunately, our history of fire in California has most of the destructive fires in October and November.
The reason is due to strong windy patterns at the very end of the season when vegetation has not yet become moist enough to withstand a fire. These dry patterns have seen infamous fires like the Camp Fire and Tubbs Fire among other happen, so the Red Flag Warning needs to be taken seriously.
Other things should be considered during windy days. Normal activities should have extra efforts like where you park your car, or walking or standing near trees. Driving on an east-west route will also be tricky from crosswinds.
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NEED
For areas outside of the Red Flag Warning, many issues will connect to the strong winds. Safety is important for any windy day around trees. Watch where you walk, stand and park for falling limb potential.
The power is at risk during any period of windy weather for outages. Also, some planned outages may happen in the coming days and you are encouraged to seek out more information HERE if you are a PG&E customer.
Finally, strong wind will make you feel colder, and it's just uncomfortable outdoors for extended periods of time. Make sure you are well dressed and mentally prepared for windy weather. Secure items before the wind moves in Tuesday.
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