According to the utility, power lines in Napa, Solano and Sonoma counties were without power as of seven p.m.
Alameda, Colusa, Contra Costa, Glenn, Lake, Mendocino, Santa Clara, Shasta, Tehama and Yolo counties were also expected to see increases Public Safety Power Shutoff Thursday.
Additional closures are required Friday and Saturday for Alameda, Butte, Colusa, Contra Costa, Fresno, Glenn, Lake, Madera, Mariposa, Mendocino, Merced, Monterey, Napa, Plumas, San Benito, Santa Barbara and Santa Clara, Santa counties Cruz, Shasta, Solano, Stanislaus, Tehama and Yolo, depending on the utility company.
The planned outages are intended to forestall wildfires as a weather system brings strong winds and low humidity to the region.
The National Weather Service forecasts offshore winds of 25 to 35 mph with gusts as much as 50 mph and daytime relative humidity as little as 10%. Much of the Bay Area and Central Coast might be under a Red flag warning from 11 p.m. Thursday to five p.m. Saturday.
Temperatures aren't expected to exceed the mid-80s, but as NWS meteorologist Matt Mehle noted, “You don't have to have the high temperatures to be worried about a fire.”
“We had fires in December,” Mehle said in an interview Thursday. “We had them in January. We had them when temperatures were in the 40s, 50s and 60s.”
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