Bay Area Braces for Wicked Winds, PG&E Power Cuts. Here’s When to Expect Them

Update: PG&E Cuts Power to 15,000 Customers as Dry Winds Whip Across California

With Halloween just around the corner, this week won’t be a good time to decorate front yards with inflatable pumpkins or apartment stoops with giant skeletons. The entire Bay Area is in for a few days of extreme wind, forecasters warn, and PG&E has already begun to cut power to  customers in the region to prevent downed trees or branches from sparking a fire.

“People are starting to decorate for some of the different festivities and will certainly want to make sure they’ve got those items secure,” said Lamont Bain, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Bay Area office.

Forecasters expect a significant wind event to bring strong gusts and high fire danger to most of the Bay Area, starting around 11 p.m. Thursday and ending Saturday at 5 p.m. The agency said the change in weather could bring offshore winds of 25–35 mph with gusts of up to 50 mph. At the highest peaks, gusts could reach nearly 65 mph.

“We’re already starting to see the sort of the first vestiges of those strong winds,” Bain said Thursday morning. “The San Francisco [International] Airport is starting to gust upwards of 25 miles an hour as we speak.”

The winds are caused by a storm system sliding down the Sierra Nevada with pressure that is higher than the pressure on the coastline. That pressure difference will force strong winds to flow from inland areas toward the Bay Area — offshore winds that are especially dangerous for fire because they tend to be drier, stronger and warmer than coastal breezes.

The conditions have led the National Weather Service to issue a red flag warning for the entire Bay Area, Central Coast and northern Central Valley. In response, PG&E is warning as many as 20,000 customers across two dozen counties that it may need to shut off their power this week.

“Windy conditions create elevated wildfire risk and the risk of debris or vegetation flying into our lines and potentially causing ignitions,” said Jake Zigelman, PG&E vice president of the Bay Area region.

PG&E equipment has been found responsible for starting several wildfires in recent years, including the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California history. The Camp Fire, which was sparked by a malfunctioning PG&E transmission line in Butte County, killed 85 people and destroyed nearly 14,000 homes — leading to a $13.5 billion settlement with victims and liabilities that temporarily pushed the utility into bankruptcy protection.

“Power disruptions are a challenge for our customers, but we’re squarely focused on safety and ensuring the safety of our part of the public and the communities we serve,” Zigelman said.

PG&E said potential shut-offs could happen at some point Thursday in these counties: Alameda, Colusa, Contra Costa, Glenn, Lake, Mendocino, Napa, Santa Clara, Shasta, Solano, Sonoma, Tehama and Yolo. On Friday, the company could also turn off power to residents in these counties: Butte, Fresno, Madera, Mariposa, Merced, Monterey, Pluma, San Benito, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz and Stanislaus.

While the potential wind impacts are spread across the Bay Area, Zigelman said, “the largest chunk of potential customers” who could lose power are in Napa and Solano counties.

Residents are encouraged to exercise extreme caution because the wind and low relative humidity will make it easier for a fire to start and rapidly spread.

People should refrain from activities that could start a fire, Bain said, adding that “burning may actually be illegal” in areas under the red flag warning.

“Don’t throw cigarette butts out the window; secure tire chains because when they drag, they can be efficient at creating a spark,” he said.