PG&E will begin rolling out another round of outages Saturday expected to impact 940,000 customers. This latest round of blackouts are due to an extreme wind event forecasted to hit Northern California, according to the utility.
"This will be the strongest event of the year," Scott Strenfel, PG&E principal meteorologist said.
As of late Friday night, 150,000 are without power in Contra Costa County. Fire officials are on alert as fire conditions are similar to those in Sonoma County, where the Kincade Fire has forced the largest evacuation in the county's history.
Parts of Walnut Creek, Lafayette, Pleasant Hill, Moraga, Pinole and Martinez are without power. Outages could remain in effect until Wednesday morning.
The shutoffs could last through Monday, according to the utility. Customers in portions of 36 counties could lose power at some point.
All Bay Area counties except San Francisco are expected to have some outages over the next three days and nearly 400,000 customers in the Bay Area could lose power, PG&E said.
The outages rolled out in the following counties in phases and began Saturday afternoon:
First Phase - 4 p.m. Saturday: Amador, Butte, El Dorado, Glenn, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, San Joquin, Sierra, Shasta, Tehama and Yuba.
Second Phase - 5 p.m. Saturday: Colusa, Marin, Mendocino (south), Napa, Solano, Sonoma and Yolo
Third Phase midnight Sunday: Alpine, Calaveras, Mariposa and Tuolumne
The Fire Weather Watch has been upgraded to a Red Flag Warning for the N/E Bay (8 PM Sat-11 AM Mon), SF Peninsula Coast and Santa Cruz Mountains (3 AM Sun-11 AM Mon). Confidence is high for dangerously strong offshore winds and critically low RH. #CAwx #CAfire pic.twitter.com/5r5l1EVZBo
— NWS Bay Area (@NWSBayArea) October 25, 2019
Fourth Phase - 8 p.m. Saturday: Alameda, Contra Costa, Monterey, San Benito, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz and Stanislaus.
Fifth Phase 8 p.m. Saturday: Humboldt, Mendocino (north), Siskiyou and Trinity
Sixth Phase 9 p.m. Sunday: Kern
- View PG&E's live outage map
- National Weather Service has issued a Red Flag Warning this weekend (click here for further details)
- No power? Here's how to keep your food cold
Twice over the past two weeks, PG&E has cut power to large areas of northern and central California to reduce the risk of its equipment sparking fires. Nearly 2 million people lost electricity earlier this month, and then as many as a half-million earlier this week.
Potential Public Safety Power Shutoff Impacted Areas for Oct. 26-28
This map shows approximate outlines of potentially impacted areas. For the most accurate information for your address, use the address lookup tool.
Source: PG&E
PG&E officials said forecasted high winds and dry air could be one of the most powerful wind events in Northern California in decades, with widespread winds of up to 60 mph and gusts reaching up to 70 mph in higher elevations.
Here's a breakdown of how many PG&E customers in the Bay Area are impacted by county:
- Alameda: 57,002 (Albany, Berkeley, Canyon, Castro Valley, Dublin, Fremont, Hayward, Livermore, Oakland, Piedmont, Pleasanton, San Leandro, Sunol)
- Contra Costa: 48,058 (Alamo, Antioch, Brentwood, Byron, Canyon, Clayton, Concord, Crockett, Danville, Diablo, El Cerrito, El Sobrante, Hercules, Kensington, Knightsen, Lafayette, Martinez, Moraga, Orinda, Pinole, Pittsburg, Pleasant Hill, Port Costa, Richmond, Rodeo, San Pablo, San Ramon, Walnut Creek)
- Marin: 118,535 (Belvedere, Bolinas, Corte Madera, Dillon Beach, Fairfax, Fallon, Forest Knolls, Greenbrae, Inverness, Kentfield, Lagunitas, Larkspur, Marshall, Mill Valley, Muir Beach, Nicasio, Novato, Olema, Point Reyes Station, Ross, San Anselmo, San Geronimo, San Rafael, Sausalito, Stinson Beach, Tiburon, Tomales, Woodacre)
- Napa: 17,878 (Angwin, Calistoga, Deer Park, Lake Berryessa, Oakville, Pope Valley, Rutherford, St Helena, Yountville)
- San Mateo: 57,218 (Belmont, Burlingame, Daly City, El Granada, Emerald Hills, Half Moon Bay, Hillsborough, La Honda, Loma Mar, Montara, Moss Beach, Pacifica, Pescadero, Portola Valley, Redwood City, San Bruno, San Carlos, San Gregorio, San Mateo, South San Francisco, Woodside, Unincorporated Communities in Southwest San Mateo County)
- Santa Clara: 27,094 (Coyote, Cupertino, Gilroy, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Los Gatos, Monte Sereno, Morgan Hill, Redwood Estates, San Jose, San Martin)
- Santa Cruz: 44,942 (Aptos, Ben Lomond, Brookdale, Capitola, Corralitos, Felton, Freedom, La Selva Beach, Mount Hermon, Santa Cruz, Scotts Valley, Soquel)
- Solano: 25,524 (Fairfield, Suisun City, Vacaville, Vallejo)
- Sonoma: 95,647 (Annapolis, Bodega, Bodega Bay, Camp Meeker, Cazadero, Cloverdale, Cotati, Duncans Mills, Forestville, Freestone, Geyserville, Glen Ellen, Graton, Guerneville, Healdsburg, Jenner, Kenwood, Larkfield, Monte Rio, Occidental, Penngrove, Petaluma, Rio Nido, Rohnert Park, Sebastopol, Stewarts Point, Valley Ford, Villa Grande, Windsor)
The Associated Press and Bay City News contributed to this report.
