The National Weather Service has issued a Fire Weather Watch for this coming weekend. The watch will be in effect from Saturday morning, Sept. 26 at 11 a.m. through Monday, Sept. 28 at 8 a.m. Areas under the watch include North Bay mountains, East Bay hills and interior valleys.
The National Weather Service issues Fire Weather Watches when weather conditions — in this case, low humidity, warm temperatures and high wind — point to an elevated risk of fire occurring.
According to predictions from the National Weather Service, temperatures in north county this weekend are expected to reach the high 90s, cooling down to around 60 degrees overnight. Coastal west county is predicted to be in the low 80s, with Sebastopol seeing highs in the high 80s and low 90s over the weekend.
North to northeasterly winds are expected, with local guests of 34 to 45 miles per hour, reaching maximums of 50 miles per hour at the highest elevations. Peak winds are expected late Saturday night into Sunday morning.
“The main time that we’re looking at is Sunday, but the Fire Weather Watch is from Saturday through Monday,” said Brian Garcia, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, in a video update. “We’ll refine that as we get closer to that time, but these are significant fire weather concerns — with all the dry fuels, winds coming through and lower relative humidities, (there are) significant concerns for the weekend.”
When in a Fire Weather Watch, people are discouraged from using mechanized power equipment near vegetation and having outside fires.
