SAN DIEGO COUNTY, Calif. — A spell of hot, dry weather and strong Santa Ana winds will intensify wildfire hazards in eastern San Diego County over the Thanksgiving holiday period, forecasters advised Monday.
Due to the combustion dangers posed by the gusty, arid and unseasonably toasty conditions, the National Weather Service issued a fire weather watch, effective from early Thursday morning through late Friday afternoon in the local mountains and inland valleys.
Following the National Weather Service's Fire Weather Watch from 4 a.m. on Thursday through 6 p.m. on Friday for San Diego County, San Diego Gas & Electric is asking customers to prepare for potential Public Safety Power Shutoffs (PSPS) over the Thanksgiving holiday.
SDG&E has activated its Emergency Operations Center to monitor conditions, initiated pre-patrols of equipment located in high fire threat districts (HFTD) and will notify customers who are potentially at risk of PSPS beginning Tuesday morning via phone, text messages and email. Customers who are notified should be prepared to be without power through Saturday, depending on SDG&E’s need and ability to physically inspect equipment during daylight hours prior to reenergizing.
The company also advised those who have received PSPS notification to be prepared to activate their personal emergency plans to keep their family, pets and livestock safe. SDG&E will continue to provide customers with updates when there is more information about forecasted weather conditions.
Combining with the heat to generate critical wildfire weather conditions over the period will be sustained winds of 20-30 mph out of the east -- with gusts of 40-60 mph in some locales -- and humidity levels as low as 10%.
The strongest winds will occur on Thursday, the NWS reported. They will then dissipate considerably and become more isolated on Friday, though high temperatures will remain 5 to 15 degrees above average through the weekend and into early next week.
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