LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – With a red flag warning for Lake County and other parts of Northern California going into effect late Saturday and continuing until Monday, Pacific Gas and Electric said conditions could lead to it turn off the power to Lake and other counties.
The National Weather Service said the red flag warning went into effect at 11 p.m. Saturday and will continue until 11 p.m. Monday.
A red flag warning means that critical fire weather conditions – a combination of strong winds, relative low humidity and warm temperatures – are either occurring now or will shortly.
Forecasters reported that high pressure building into the Great Basin will result in drying gusty north to east wind over interior Northern California, which in turn will significantly lower humidity and fuel moistures leading to critical fire weather conditions from late Saturday into Monday night.
The specific Lake County forecast calls for wind gusts of more than 35 miles per hour in the south county on Sunday night and about 30 miles per hour in other parts of the county.
On Saturday evening, local law enforcement agencies issued Nixle alerts warning of possible power outages due to the red flag warning.
A few hours later, PG&E followed up by reporting that it may proactively turn off power for safety in portions of 12 counties, including Lake, due to “expected extreme fire danger conditions” within a 24-hour period ending on Sunday night.
“PG&E could take the action of turning off the power for safety as early as late Saturday night into early Sunday morning,” the company statement said. “The greater likelihood is potentially turning off the power for safety in advance of Sunday evening wind event that is forecasted to last into Monday morning.”
In Lake County, PG&E said areas that could be impacted by outages include Clearlake, Clearlake Oaks, Clearlake Park, Cobb, Finley, Hidden Valley Lake, Kelseyville, Lakeport, Lower Lake and Middletown.
Other counties where PG&E said outages could take place include neighboring Napa and Sonoma counties, along with Amador, Butte, Calaveras, El Dorado, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Sierra and Yuba.
PG&E said that, when and where possible, it will provide early warning notification as well as updates until power is restored. Extreme weather threats can change quickly.
Out of an abundance of caution, PG&E said it is providing notice to customers in advance of this safety event through automated phone calls, texts, social media and emails effective immediately.
PG&E is asking customers to take several actions, including learning whether their home or business is in or near a high fire-threat area on the CPUC High Fire-Threat District map by visiting http://pge.com/wildfiresafety; updating contact information at http://pge.com/mywildfirealerts or by calling 1-866-743-6589 during normal business hours for the purposes of getting advance alerts; and preparing for and practicing an emergency plan for themselves and their families.
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Red flag warning issued for Lake County; PG&E warns of possible power shutoff
- Elizabeth Larson
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