Strong Wind — East Bay Hills and the Diablo Range, California

2020-10-26 · East Bay Hills and the Diablo Range, California

Event narrative

Gusty winds knocked down a large eucalyptus tree in the foothills of Fremont. Exact time unknown.

Wider weather episode

An upper trough over the Rockies set up a strong surface pressure gradient across California bringing strong offshore winds to the Bay Area. Continued dry conditions generated increased fire weather concerns across the region .Widespread wind gusts of 30 to 50 mph were observed with higher elevation areas at 60 to 70 mph. Oakland Airport saw a max gust of 58 mph the night of the 25th. The areas highest peaks and ridges recorded wind gusts at over 80 mph with 89 mph the strongest gust at over 4,000 ft in elevation over the mountains of Sonoma County. Conditions were also critically dry with humidity values in the teens and low 20s all the way to the coastline. A handful of small fires developed over the area, but were quickly put out by fire crews. While the Greater Bay Area was spared any large fire starts from this system, other locations across California were not as fortunate.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 921058. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.