Weekend Fire Weather Watch Issued For Parts Of North And East Bay
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- The Bay Area National Weather Service office on Tuesday morning issued a Fire Weather Watch for portions of the North and East Bay this weekend.
A combination of moderate strength fall offshore winds, warmer temperatures and low humidity forecast for Saturday led to the Fire Weather Watch for the North and East Bay Hills, according to the NWS.
The Fire Weather Watch will begin Saturday at 11 a.m. and run through 8 a.m. Monday morning. While the greatest threat is expected in the North Bay -- particularly in the hills of northeast Sonoma County and Napa County above 1,000 feet -- parts of the East Bay around Mount Diablo and the East Bay hills as well as the interior valleys along the I-680 corridor, I-580 east of the Altamont and the Highway 4 corridor will also be impacted.
The strongest winds are forecast for Saturday night into early Sunday morning
with preliminary forecasts calling for wind gusts to around 50 mph in the hills above 1,000 feet.
These strong winds will coincide with little or no humidity recovery and warm temperatures after a week of relatively cooler weather.
So far, no red-flag fire warnings have been issued for the weekend.
Offshore winds will gradually ease Sunday, but weather officials say a second weaker burst of winds may occur Sunday night into early Monday morning.
Long range trends suggest continuing above average temperatures at least through the middle of next week coupled with poor humidity recovery as fuels remain very dry.
The Bay Area has been coping with the fallout of a record-breaking wildfire season since the lightning-sparked LNU, CZU and SCU Complex fires began just after mid-August. According to Gov. Gavin Newsom's latest update on Monday, nearly 8,000 fires across the state have burned over 3.6 million acres.
