SAN FRANCISCO— Pacific Gas & Electric announced Monday that its meteorological and operations teams in its Emergency Operations Center were monitoring a potentially widespread, strong and dry wind event Wednesday morning through Thursday afternoon which could impact northern, central, coastal and Bay Area counties across much of PG&E’s service area and which had the potential of triggering a power shut off across portions of approximately 30 northern, central, coastal and Bay Area counties, including the County of Lake.
According to the Sacramento office of the National Weather Service, A low-pressure system digging into the Great Basin region was expected to create gusty north to east winds over portions of interior Northern California Wednesday and Thursday. Daytime minimum relative humidities will be very low, mainly in the teens, with poor overnight recoveries Wednesday night. These will lead to critical fire weather conditions for the northern Coastal Range and foothills, the Sacramento Valley, and the Northern Sierra Nevada and foothills below 6000 feet.
Per PG&E’s weather analysis as of Monday, “Forecast models continue to show ample support for the event and have remained very consistent in forecasting the strongest event of the season so far and the strongest event since October 8 and 9 of 2017.”
In response to this anticipated extreme weather event, company officials noted that the National Weather Service has issued a fire weather watch for vast portions of Northern California for midweek. Portions of counties that may be impacted include, but is not limited to: Alameda, Alpine, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Colusa, Contra Costa, El Dorado, Glenn, Lake, Mariposa, and Mendocino.
The main period of weather risk is early Wednesday morning through Thursday midday. The dry, windy weather pattern is expected to reach from the northern portions of PG&E’s service territory and down through the Sacramento Valley before spreading into the central areas of the state including most of the Bay Area.
The power shutoff potential forecast also indicates an elevated potential in service zones including Lake County on Friday. Officials also noted that “decisions to depower costumers are made at a more granular level; thus, only a portion of a zone may experience a shut off if warranted.”
According to county officials, as of press time Monday, PG&E had confirmed a Community Resource Center (CRC) would open at the Clearlake Senior Center, 3245 Bowers Ave, Clearlake, at 8 a.m. Wednesday morning if Lake County remained “in the scope of the PSPS (power safety shutoff) event.
Officials added that the center would l be open until 6 p.m. and continue to operate (8 a.m. to 6 p.m.) as long as needed.
“It is very important that people understand these are not the same as the shelters the County and partners stand up when we experience a wildfire,” they noted via social media. “CRCs are not typical disaster shelters, and do not provide overnight lodging, for example. Basic services, such as bottled water and power strips to charge devices are expected to be available.”
The utility company also stated that while customers in high fire-threat areas are more likely to be affected by a power shutoff, any of PG&E’s more than 5 million electric customers could have their power shut off because the energy system relies on power lines working together to provide electricity across cities, counties and regions.
PG&E spokesperson Deanna Contreras said the power could be off in affected areas for several days because the utility can’t start restoring power until the severe weather has passed. “The power can’t come back up all at once,” she said. “But we do prioritize critical costumers like the hospitals.”
Backup electric generators can be a part of any preparedness plan, but they can also pose unique safety hazards, so the utility encouraged costumers to practice generator safety. Additional tips on the safe use of generators can be found at PG&E’s Safety Action Center. at www.safetyactioncenter.pge.com.
