San Rafael Under Red Flag Warning: NWS

MARIN COUNTY, CA — The National Weather Service has issued a red flag warning for most of Marin County including San Rafael.

The warning goes into effect Friday night at 11 p.m. and runs through Monday at 6 a.m.

Wind gusts from the north and north east are expected to gust from 40 to 50 mph, topping out at 60 mph in parts of the Bay Area according to the NWS.

Much of the Bay Area is under the first such warning of this year.

With only 20 inches of rainfall last year, 2020 marked the Marin’s second-driest year in 90 years.

Marin’s second straight dry winter comes less than four years after that state endured an extended drought from 2013-2017.

Persistent warm, dry weather lowered Marin Water's reservoir storage capacity to 52 percent—the lowest level in nearly 40 years.

Storage levels for this time of year are typically more than 90 percent.

The Marin Municipal Water District, which serves central and southern Marin, has enacted tough restrictions at each of its last two board meetings as it aims to reduce consumption by 40 percent.

Statewide, officials are bracing for the worst.

All of California is extremely dry and 92.9 percent of the state is in a severe drought according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.

Wildfires in 2020 torched a record-breaking 4.2 million acres, or an estimated 4 percent of the state's land, The Associated Press reports.

Some 10,488 structures were damaged or destroyed and at least 31 were killed in 2020, which was described as the year of the "megafire."