Thousands of Bay Area PG&E customers without power amid high winds

More than 9,000 PG&E customers were without power across the Bay Area Sunday as howling winds pummeled the region amid a red flag warning that’s set to expire later this evening.

J.D. Guidi, a spokesperson for the utility company, said outages began at 9 a.m. Just before noon, a total of 8,962 customers were still without power in the East Bay all the way from Oakland to Antioch, he said. Smaller outages were also reported throughout the region, with 345 customers affected in the North Bay, 3 customers in San Francisco, 21 customers along the peninsula, and 80 customers in the South Bay. 

“The majority of those East Bay outages are believed to be wind-related at this time,” Guidi said. “Most of the impact is in Oakland and Danville.” 

It’s not yet clear when PG&E will restore power for all customers. Guidi said crews were in the area of outages and working as quickly and safely as possible. Estimated restoration times can be found at PG&E’s outage center. 

“When wildfire risk is higher, powerlines in your area shut off instantly when struck by a branch or object,” a message on PG&E’s website read. “To reduce potential ignitions, lines stay off until they’re fully inspected and safe to energize.”

The National Weather Service issued the red flag warning, as well as a wind advisory, on Friday. Forecasters had high confidence that dangerous conditions allowing wildfires to easily spread could develop over the weekend. Sarah McCorkle, a meteorologist for the weather service, said the East Bay hills had “some pretty strong gusts” peaking at 35 to 45 mph between 6 and 9 a.m., resulting in the outages. 

Some of the most powerful winds were recorded in the North Bay mountains as gusts peaked at 70 mph on Mount Saint Helena. The hills east of Healdsburg also saw gusts of 65 to 70 mph, and Napa County was whipped with 45 to 50 mph winds. 

“There’s pretty strong high pressure across the Intermountain West and Great Basin areas, and that creates a difference in pressure between areas further inland and us at the coast, which is what’s driving these stronger northeast winds and elevated fire weather concerns,” McCorkle explained.

People can expect a few more hours of gusty conditions before they start to subside and completely diminish later this evening. However, the weather service is encouraging residents to continue to exercise caution: Avoid burning anything outdoors, keep vehicles off dry grass, safely dispose of cigarettes and avoid power equipment that creates sparks. 

“Even as the winds die down, it’s still going to be pretty dry out there,” McCorkle said.

A subtle warming trend is forecast early this week, with temperatures climbing toward the mid- to upper 70s across the Bay Area. After that, a slight chance of rain — 20% to 30% for the North Bay — may bring some respite to the region.