Diablo winds coming to Bay Area
The first Diablo winds of the season could arrive in the Bay Area beginning Sunday night and into Monday morning — though they’re unlikely to be as strong as in years past, meteorologists said.
The timeline for this year’s dry, offshore winds has come about two weeks earlier than expected, said Warren Blier, science officer for the National Weather Service. The winds — which can spread fires and smoke in new directions — typically start around the fall and come and go irregularly through the spring.
“It’s sort of like the turn of a season and the harbinger of our going into our fire weather season of most concern,” he said. “But this event itself is kind of moderate concern at this point.”
The seasonal wind patterns can be particularly worrisome during the driest periods of the year because of how they can drive wildfires. But this first pattern, Blier said, isn’t likely to be very powerful, with the strongest winds in the hills over 1,500 feet at about 15 to 25 mph and gusts up to 35 mph.
“This is not a particularly dramatic case of this,” he said. “It’s more notable for being the first than for being strong.”
As to whether smoke could spread across the Bay Area, Blier said that it depends on where the fires are, and where “smoke has previously gone or accumulated.” As of now, he added, “there is no reason to think offshore winds early next week will result in more smoke for the Bay Area.”
The winds tend to be at their strongest during the overnight and morning hours. The stronger wind pattern will probably arrive late Sunday into Monday morning, with a weaker wind pattern beginning Monday night into Tuesday. And then, they’ll probably fade away.
As is the case with all dry wind patterns and relatively dry conditions, there is always a fire concern. But the agency has not yet issued a fire weather watch or red-flag warning, in part because there is a possibility of rain over the North Bay during the weekend, which would alleviate some of those concerns, Blier said.
“There’s more of the story left to be told as we get closer,” Blier said.