What to Know
- Wind gusts tapered off Tuesday night and a Red Flag Warning expired at 4 a.m. Wednesday
- Despite relief from Santa Ana winds, humidity levels were below 10%, elevating wildfire danger
- At the peak of the Public Safety Power Outage, more than 51,000 were in the dark
- Public Safety Power Shutoff locations and community resource center locations can be found on SDG&E's website
San Diego County appeared to make it through one of the strongest Santa Ana wind events of the season largely unscathed, but meteorologists warn that the threat for wildfires to spark and spread rapidly was not yet over.
A Red Flag Warning expired at 4 a.m. Wednesday as Santa Ana winds died down, but humidity levels less than 10% in some parts of the county were still elevating the concern for wildfires to grow quickly and out of control.
By Wednesday night, San Diego Gas & Electric said it had restored power to all of its customers affected by public safety power shutoffs during the wind event.
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"High fire risk weather conditions have passed," the utility said in an X post. "Our crews began patrol this morning & have given the ALL CLEAR to restore power to impacted customers."
High fire risk weather conditions have passed. Our crews began patrol this morning & have given the ALL CLEAR to restore power to impacted customers. We understand power outages are inconvenient, so we appreciate your patience as we work to keep our region safe from wildfires. pic.twitter.com/zF5oIt1nVO
— SDG&E (@SDGE) December 12, 2024
The following school districts canceled classes Wednesday due to the power shutoffs, the San Diego County Office of Education announced:
- Alpine Union School District
- Borrego Springs Unified School District
- Dehesa School District
- Jamul-Dulzura Union School District
- Julian Union Elementary School District
- Julian Union High School District
- Mountain Empire School District
- Spencer Valley School District
- Vallecitos School District
- Warner Unified School District
- Pauma School in Valley Center-Pauma Unified School District, Barona Indian Charter School in Lakeside Union School District, and Del Lago Academy in Escondido Union High School District will also be closed due to power shutoffs.
At the peak of SDG&E's Public Safety Power Outages, more than 51,000 people were in the dark. The Power Safety Shut-Off warning was expected to continue through noon on Friday, according to the agency's website. More than 115,000 customers were initially alerted to potential outages.
Local
SDG&E said the move to cut power is made with much forethought to prevent Santa Ana winds from downing power lines and sparking wildfires.
A meteorologist for the agency as well as meteorologists for NBC 7 and the National Weather Service indicated this was one of the strongest in recent years with gusty easterly winds spanning to the coastline, which is less common. ind gusts up to 95mph blew through San Diego's mountains, foothills and inland valleys Tuesday morning.
The strongest wind gusts recorded during this wind event from Monday through Wednesday were a 95 mph gust in Sill Hill, a remote mountainous area of the county north of I-8, and southwest of Lake Cuyamaca. The wind speed was unusual, NBC 7 Meteorologist Greg Bledsoe said, but not a record.
Firefighters made fairly quick work of two fires amid the gustiest winds Tuesday morning, one in Ramona that burned less than 2 acres, and a second later in the day in East County near the U.S.-Mexico border that burned at least two dozen acres before crews gained the upper hand.
Two firefighters were injured battling the Dulzura wildfire; one suffered a head injury and the other injured their leg, according to Cal Fire San Diego.
With the wind change, a storm system from the north will shift the weather pattern in San Diego, dropping temperatures and potentially bringing a bit of rain to the region by Thursday.
