More wind, rain in the forecast this week
It will be pretty chilly through Tuesday morning, a National Weather Service Eureka meteorologist said Sunday.
Monday night into Tuesday morning will be the coldest of the week, possibly getting as low as 29 degrees in some areas.
“Could be freezing temperatures just away from the coast,” forecaster Matthew Kidwell said. “McKinleyville, Fortuna, a lot of areas will see freezing temperatures.”
A freeze watch is in effect through Tuesday morning for the coast of northern Humboldt County as well as the southern interior.
“Frost and freeze conditions could kill crops, other sensitive vegetation and possibly damage unprotected outdoor plumbing,” the freeze watch posted Monday states.
On Tuesday, Kidwell said, temperatures will “start to moderate a bit.”
“Thursday into the weekend is looking like off and on rain, but no really heavy rain or low snow levels — just some more rain.”
The marine forecast is also expected to be gusty, with small craft advisory for the inner water and gale warnings for the outer waters. The gale warnings are in effect until 11 p.m. Monday.
For more up-to-date weather information, go to www.weather. gov/eureka.
“Could be freezing temperatures just away from the coast. McKinleyville, Fortuna, a lot of areas will see freezing temperatures.” — Forecaster Matthew Kidwell
Data from major tech companies indicates Humboldt County residents are continuing to stay home and avoid work into March.
Data from the county’s Google users with location services turned on shows residents are staying home 8% more than they were at the start of 2020 as of Friday, up from 3% earlier this month and closer to the 10% mark where it’s been through most of the pandemic.
Trips to workplaces were down 26%, trips to retail and recreation locations were down 18%, trips to grocery stores and pharmacies were down 3%, and trips to local national parks were up 14% on Friday, according to the Google data.
Data from Facebook at the very start of March showed the number of its local users with location services turned on who were staying home for a continuous 24-hour period had dropped below 20%, which has been rare during the pandemic. As of March 6, the most recent data available, that number increased to 25.79%, around where it’s been most of the pandemic.
Smart thermometer company Kinsa shows the risk for COVID-19 illness in the county is low and continuing to drop, while cases of influenza are very low and stable.
According to the most recent county data available on vaccinations, which is updated every Wednesday, about 17.2% of county residents have received at least one dose of the vaccine, 9.15% are fully vaccinated and 8.05% are partially vaccinated.
At the current rate, it would take about about nine months for two-thirds of the county to get vaccinated and over a year for all county residents to get vaccinated.
Vaccination rates are increasing as the county receives more doses of vaccine; it’s expected to receive 2,800 doses of the Moderna vaccine and 2,340 doses of the PfizerBioNTech vaccine this week, according to a county news release.
Humboldt County has not been allotted any doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine yet.
Some Safeway and CVS Pharmacy locations are also offering COVID-19 vaccinations for which people can sign up at m health appointments. com/cvoidappt for Safeway and bit.ly/3bNBgqY for CVS.