Red Flag Warning Extended In Sonoma County As Winds Reach 89 MPH

SONOMA COUNTY, CA — The National Weather Service has extended its Red Flag warning until Tuesday evening in some parts of the Bay Area as high winds and low humidity continue to raise the danger of wildfires.

The weather service's Red Flag warning was originally scheduled to last through 11 a.m. Monday in much of the Bay Area, including the North Bay mountains, East Bay hills, Santa Cruz mountains and the Peninsula.

The warning will now last through 5 p.m. Tuesday for the North Bay mountains, East Bay hills and the Diablo Range, while for the other affected areas it expired at 11 a.m. as scheduled.

The agency's wind advisory in all affected counties also expired at 11 a.m.

Weather stations recorded wind gusts as high as 89 mph overnight near Mt. Saint Helena. Gusts were also recorded as high as 58 mph at Oakland International Airport and 53 mph at the Napa County Airport, according to the National Weather Service San Francisco Bay Area.

The high winds led officials with the city of Berkeley and the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District over the weekend to urge residents in the highest risk areas to voluntarily evacuate.

In anticipation of the winds and their potential to blow down power lines, PG&E proactively shut off power for roughly 355,000 customers in 34 counties, including Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Solano and Sonoma counties.

In Napa County, 11,026 customers were impacted, including 2,277 in Calistoga, 26 in Napa, 465 in St. Helena, 8,254 in unincorporated areas, and four in Yountville.

In Sonoma County, 24,886 customers were impacted, including 3,379 in Santa Rosa, 21,501 in unincorporated areas, three in Healdsburg, two in Sonoma, and one in Windsor.

In Solano County, 1,597 customers were impacted, including 1,586 in unincorporated areas, eight in Fairfield, one in Suisun City, and two in Vacaville.

During the wind event that began Sunday, PG&E said its meteorologists recorded max sustained winds of 76 mph and max wind gusts of 89 mph in Sonoma County, while in Napa County, max sustained winds of 54 mph were recorded, along with max wind gusts of 82 mph.

In Contra Costa County, PG&E recorded max sustained winds of 55 mph and max wind gusts of 74 mph; in Lake County, max sustained winds of 57 mph and max wind gusts of 71 mph were recorded.

In Placer County, sustained winds reached 42 mph and wind gusts reached 71 mph; and in Alameda County, sustained winds reached 52 mph and wind gusts reached 66 mph.

During the shutoffs, PG&E is operating 105 community resource facilities for residents who lose power, offering them access to medical equipment and electronic charging stations, WiFi, bottled water and non-perishable food. Up-to-date information about the power shutoffs can be found at PG&E's website.

Monday morning, PG&E meteorologists began issuing the weather "all clear" for portions of areas impacted by the shutoff. Nearly 1,800 PG&E ground patrol units, one airplane and 65 helicopters are assigned to this public safety power shutoff event.

"PG&E has begun restoring power to customers in some areas where it is safe to do so and expects to restore power to the remaining customers impacted by this PSPS event throughout the day on Monday and continue into Tuesday, with a majority of the customers restored by late Tuesday evening," PG&E North Bay Spokeswoman Deanna Contreras said in an update at noon Monday.

"In many areas, high winds and fire-critical weather will continue through Tuesday morning, so power restoration efforts cannot occur in those areas until the weather conditions improve and the fire danger subsides. Restoration may be delayed for some customers if crews are required to repair significant damage to individual lines, which could be caused by wind-blown branches and other debris."

Bay City News Service contributed to this report.