North, East Bay, Santa Cruz mountains under Wednesday Red Flag Warning

The National Weather Service has issued a Red Flag Warning early Tuesday morning for nearly all elevations in the North and East Bay starting early Wednesday morning into Thursday afternoon.

The warning for extreme fire danger was issued early Tuesday for the North/East Bay Hills and Valleys as a dry and windy weather system enters the region, NWS officials said. The warning will start at 5 a.m. Wednesday and run until 5 p.m. Thursday.

The areas of most concern are greater than 1,000 feet in elevation in the North and East Bay Hills, but NWS meteorologist Duane Dykema said the warning applies to the valleys, as well.

A wind advisory is also in effect starting 6 a.m. Wednesday. Wind gusts of up to 30 mph are expected in the valleys. In the hills, sustained 20-30 mph winds and gusts of 45-55 mph – and higher locally on Wednesday night – are expected.

In addition, Dykema said a Red Flag Warning applies to the Santa Cruz Mountains after 5 p.m. Wednesday to 12 p.m. Thursday, but the winds in that area won’t be as strong as the forecast to the north.

A PG&E spokesperson said the company didn’t have an update regarding a potential scheduled power shutdown to several areas of the Bay Area as of 5:35 a.m.

Bay City News

Bay City News is a 24/7 news service covering the greater Bay Area. © 2022 Bay City News, Inc. All rights reserved. Republication, rebroadcast or redistribution without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.