Widespread high winds to rattle California, raise wildfire danger

Widespread high winds to rattle California, raise wildfire danger

From the beginning of 2021 to now, the biggest storm came to hit California and ramped up on Tuesday. The storm did not make too much precipitation. Instead, hurricane-force winds spread Golden State, leading to disruptions and power outages on a large scale.

According to Bill Wadell - AccuWeather National News Reporter, there was a lot got debris flown down the road on Tuesday morning.

Although the strongest winds were reported at the higher elevations around the mountains surrounding Los Angeles and the Bay Area, in crowded residential areas, damage still was reported due to falling trees and toppling over trucks on highways.

AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Dave Bowers stated that there were extraordinary wind gusts in California, among some of the strongest ever recorded in the state, occurred at mountain peaks. 

Also, Brower said even at a few mountain communities, gusts could reach nearly 100 mph as in Cobb, just northeast of San Francisco.

This weather pattern caused some disruptions to the daily lives of California such as power outages. This is a really big problem when due to the Covid-19 pandemic, people are working from home and attending school virtually. In accordance with PowerOutages.us, there were over 250 million people without power throughout most of Tuesday.

Responding to this circumstance, PG&E spokesperson J.D. Guidi told SF Gate News that their crews would continue to work as safely and quickly as possible until all customers were restored. 

Moreover, the winds also forbid the delivery of the coronavirus vaccines. Wadell said that a Covid-19 vaccine site in Disneyland had to shut down due to these strong winds.

Also, Covid-19 testing sites in Ventura County, California forced to close on Tuesday because of the high winds.

In addition, a critical fire risk combined with the windy, dry weather made emergency crews standby to fight the fire on early Tuesday. By early afternoon, helicopters were already in the sky in order to stop bush fires immediately which are fanned by the persistent winds.

“A couple of factors leading to a number of fire outbreaks from near San Francisco to San Diego,” Bowers said.

They are a lack of precipitation in Dec and Jan and widespread powerful winds with very low humidity levels. 

The elevated fire threat and disruptive winds are forecast to continue into Wednesday before gradually subsiding, according to AccuWeather meteorologists.

By the end of the week, it is predicted that a storm more typical of winter will arrive in California, bringing rain and mountain snow over Califonia. It seems not to a huge storm, however, the moisture will be useful and prevent any fires that may still be burning following the spell of windy weather.

To protect yourself and reduce damage at a minimum level, you will need to keep in mind some bad weather safety tips. 

>>> Stay tuned for GoWeather to get updated information.