THANKSGIVING MAY BRING HIGH WINDS, POWER SHUTOFFS

Dry and gusty conditions lead to red-flag warning in county through Friday

A red-flag fire weather warning will be in effect for the county’s mountains, valleys and foothills from 4 a.m. Thursday to 6 p.m. Friday due to strong Santa Ana winds, above average temperatures and extremely low relative humidity, according to the National Weather Service.

The wind storm means some portions of San Diego and Orange counties run the risk of having a Thanksgiving with the lights out.

San Diego Gas & Electric advised customers that it might have to temporarily turn off power in some areas because of the combination of extremely dry conditions and gusty winds, which are expected to blow through starting today.

In what’s called Public Safety Power Shutoffs, or PSPS, utilities de-energize power in hopes of keeping electrical lines and other equipment from falling and igniting a wildfire.

“All of us at SDG&E are hoping that critical fire weather conditions do not result in having to shut off power over Thanksgiving so that our customers and employees can enjoy the holiday with their loved ones,” Kevin Geraghty, SDG&E’s chief safety officer, said in a statement.

But weather conditions can change quickly, Geraghty said, and “we wanted to let our customers know as early as possible that they could be impacted so they can make alternate holiday arrangements if needed.”

Forecasters anticipate gusts of 40 mph to 50 mph, with the strongest winds coming Thursday. Some isolated areas could see winds hit 60 mph.

Humidity will be low, falling to just 5 to 10 percent during the daytime hours on Thanksgiving and inching up to about 10 percent on Friday.

The daytime highs are expected to reach 73 in Ramona — where some of the strongest winds are expected — and 77 in San Diego.

The winds will last into Friday,

when the temperature is expected to reach 82 in San Diego, 11 degrees above average.

“We are expecting critical fire weather conditions,” said Casey Oswant, a meteorologist at the San Diego office of the National Weather Service. She said the areas most likely affected will be mountains, coastal slopes into the foothills and parts of East County.

San Diego has recorded just 5.27 inches of rain this year — compared with an average year that sees 9.79 inches of precipitation — that has led to parched vegetation that is quick to ignite and burn.

“With the gusty winds, the dry fuels and the dry air, fires that start are likely to spread rapidly,” Oswant said.

SDG&E officials say they have activated their Emergency Operations Center to monitor weather conditions and started pre-patrols of their equipment in high-firethreat districts. The utility on Tuesday began notifying more than 43,000 customers who are at risk of having their power turned off, contacting them via phone, text messages and emails.

Those contacted should be prepared to be without power through Saturday, SDG&E said. A list of areas at risk of the Public Safety Power Shutoffs can be accessed at sdge.com/ready.

Over the years, the customers most affected by the de-energizing of lines tend to live in the backcountry of San Diego County. Some complain the shutoffs are a burden because a number of rural residents rely on electricity to pump well water for their horses and other animals to drink.

Customers dependent on electrically-powered medical devices are also concerned when their neighborhoods lose power.

SDG&E says it uses public safety shutoffs as a last resort to reduce the risk of wildfire when weather conditions are dangerous and tries to make them as strategic as possible.

Back in the fall of 2007, downed power lines in high winds ignited the devastating Witch, Guejito and Rice wildfires that killed 10 people and destroyed more than 1,700 homes.

Since then, SDG&E has spent more than $3 billion in ratepayer funds on a variety of wildfire safety measures, including establishing a network of more than 220 weather stations that provide grid operators real-time weather data to help them determine when and whether to de-energize power lines.

“We’re really going to wait for those critical fire weather conditions to materialize before we implement Public Safety Power Shutoff,” said Brian D’Agostino, SDG&E’s director of fire science and climate adaptation. “We’re going to have our team of meteorologists working around the clock for the duration of this event, monitoring weather data on our weather network.”

SDG&E has not had any Public Safety Power Shutoffs so far this year. In 2020, the utility implemented five.

“We’re going to have our team of meteorologists working around the clock for the duration of this event.” Brian D’Agostino • SDG&E’s director of fire science and climate adaptation