Strong Wind — East Bay Interior Valleys, California

2019-10-28 · East Bay Interior Valleys, California

Event narrative

Fence blown down.

Wider weather episode

A series of offshore wind events plagued much of California towards the end of October. Cut off lows (also known as insider sliders) moved into the Great Basin as an upper ridge sat over the eastern Pacific. Strong surface high pressure also building over the Great Basin and a trough along the California coast provided the set up for one of the strongest dry offshore winds over the greater Bay Area since the 2017 North Bay Fires. Winds remained elevated for at least 24 hours with gusts in the hills 60 to 80 mph. A peak gust of 102 mph was recorded near the Kincade Fire. These winds promoted rapid growth of the Kincade Fire and along with very dry conditions allowed for multiple new wildfires to spark in the greater Bay Area. A large amount of the community in Sonoma County was evacuated downwind of the Kincade Fire in response. Prior to the event PG&E shut off power to over 2 million people across the state of California.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 856179. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.