LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — The National Weather Service on Tuesday issued a red flag warning for Lake County as a windstorm approaches, while Pacific Gas and Electric has expanded the area in Lake County that’s expected to be impacted by a Tuesday evening public safety power shutoff.
The National Weather Service had previously issued a fire weather watch, but that has been upgraded.
The red flag warning is in effect in Lake County from 11 p.m. Tuesday to 8 p.m. Wednesday in areas above the 1,500-foot elevation mark.
A red flag warning means that critical fire weather conditions are either occurring now or will shortly as a result of strong winds, low humidity and warm temperatures.
The National Weather Service said northwest to north winds of up to 25 miles per hour, with gusts of up to 35 miles per hour, are possible Tuesday afternoon and evening, and into early Wednesday.
The combination of winds, low humidity and high temperature could result in critical fire conditions, officials said.
That windstorm has caused PG&E to move forward with plans for a potential public safety power shutoff, or PSPS. The company began notifying customers on Sunday night of a possible outage.
As of early Tuesday afternoon, 18 counties, including Lake, are still in the area of the planned outage, but in Lake County the number of customers expected to be impacted has more than doubled since Monday night.
On Tuesday, PG&E said 4,563 customers in Lake County are in the anticipated outage area, with 353 of those in the Medical Baseline program.
The estimated time of shutoff in Lake County is between 7 and 8 p.m. Tuesday, with restoration expected as of 2 p.m. Thursday.
PG&E customers can look up their addresses to find out if their location is being monitored for the potential safety shutoff at www.pge.com/pspsupdates.
Editor’s note: The story has been updated to show restoration may occur in Lake County as late as Thursday afternoon.
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Red flag warning issued for Lake County; PG&E increases number of Lake County customers to be impacted by PSPS
- Elizabeth Larson
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