Quick Take:
High winds whipped through the Santa Cruz Mountains and the entire Bay Area this week, initiating a series of fires and sparking numerous power outages. Here’s the latest.
6 p.m.: All wildfires that ignited during this week’s extreme winds in Santa Cruz and San Mateo counties have been contained and controlled, Cal Fire confirmed Friday evening.
At least 21 wildfires erupted across the two counties Monday and Tuesday, stoked by extreme winds that toppled trees and downed power lines and — in some cases — might have reignited smoldering embers left from the CZU Lightning Complex fire.
All but two of the fires were fully contained by the end of Thursday, according to Cal Fire.
The two remaining wildfires, the Freedom and Panther Ridge fires, prompted the temporary evacuation of a roughly 120 homes this week. Aided by rains, Cal Fire said Friday evening it was able to fully contain both fires.
“All the fires associated with Tuesday’s major event have been declared contained and controlled,” Cal Fire spokesperson Cecile Juliette told Lookout.
5:30 p.m.: PG&E reported significant progress restoring power to residents across Santa Cruz County as the fourth day of a widespread outages drew to a close.
As of 5 p.m., 2,452 customers remained without power — less than half the 5,454 impacted Friday morning, according to the utility. Most of those still without power located in or near Boulder Creek, in the San Lorenzo Valley — despite strides made in the area Friday.
“We made really good improvement in Boulder Creek which is the hardest hit area in the Santa Cruz Mountains,” PG&E spokesperson Mayra Tostado said in an email.
Here’s the latest on where the power is out:
- Aptos: 2
- Ben Lomond: 197
- Boulder Creek: 1,328
- Brookdale: 1
- Felton: 205
- Santa Cruz: 445
- Scotts Valley: 216
- Soquel: 3
- Watsonville: 55
- TOTAL: 2,452
10:30 a.m.: Power outages continued for a fourth day after high winds damaged PG&E infrastructure across Santa Cruz County. As of 9 a.m., 5,454 customers — mostly homes — remained without power countywide, according to PG&E.
More than half of ongoing outages are in the area of Boulder Creek, in the San Lorenzo Valley.
PG&E said it expected to restore power to 75% of those impacted by the end of the day Friday, and to remaining customers over the weekend.
Customers can check the estimated time of restoration for their address via PG&E’s online outage map or by calling (800) 743-5002.
Here’s where the power is still out as of 9 a.m. Friday:
- Aptos: 18
- Ben Lomond: 314
- Boulder Creek: 3,000
- Brookdale: 1
- Felton: 897
- Santa Cruz: 866
- Scotts Valley: 252
- Soquel: 4
- Watsonville: 102
- TOTAL: 5,454
Thursday, Jan. 20
6 p.m: Firefighters report full containment of several wildfires in Santa Cruz and San Mateo counties, issuing final updates for the China Grade, North Butano and Bloom fires.
And rains forecast for Friday are expected to further aid firefighters’ efforts.
Meanwhile, PG&E reports power was restored to thousands of homes Thursday — though 6,951 customers remained without power as of 5 p.m., as the third day of a widespread outage drew to a close.
Here are the latest fire updates:
Freedom Fire: 37 acres, 85% contained at Freedom Boulevard and Hames Road in Aptos Hills-Larkin Valley. About 100 nearby homes were evacuated Tuesday and repopulated Wednesday, according to Cal Fire.
Panther Ridge Fire: 20 acres, 95% contained, on Stapp Road, east of Highway 9. About 20 nearby homes were evacuated Tuesday and repopulated Wednesday, according to Cal Fire.
China Grade Fire (final): 22 acres, 100% contained, on China Grade Road and Foxglove Lane, 4 miles northwest of Boulder Creek.
Bonny Doon Complex (final): 20 acres, 100% contained at Fanning Grade Road in Ben Lomond.
North Butano Fire (final): 15 acres, 100% contained, in Pescadero Creek County Park, Loma Mar, in San Mateo County.
Bloom Fire (final): 9 acres, 100% contained, at Little Basin Road and Upper Bloom Grade Road, northwest of Boulder Creek.
And the latest breakdown of ongoing power outages:
- Aptos: 124
- Ben Lomond: 403
- Boulder Creek: 3,286
- Brookdale: 1
- Felton: 1,141
- Santa Cruz: 1,138
- Scotts Valley: 582
- Soquel: 68
- Watsonville: 208
- TOTAL: 6,951
10:30 a.m.: PG&E officials say the damage in the “heavily-forested area” of the Santa Cruz Mountains is “considerable and still being assessed.” As a result, some customers can expect outages to last as long as “several days,” spokesperson Mayra Tostado said Thursday.
As of 9 a.m. Thursday, there were slightly fewer than 10,000 people in the county without power. The utility company estimates that about 75% of them should see power restored by Friday night.
The utility company flew a helicopter over heavily forested areas on Wednesday to assess the damage and observed extensive wind damage and debris, fallen trees and downed power lines and poles, Tostado said.
There are 64 PG&E crews on-site Thursday with 11 more to be added later today. The crews are “methodically traversing the Camp Evers circuit which serves the area, making repairs and restoring portions of the circuit as they can,” Tostado wrote in an email. As a result, power is being restored gradually to different areas.
PG&E estimates that most Aptos residents should see power restored by tonight, while others, who live in areas where there is more wind damage, might not get power back until Saturday.
Here’s a breakdown:
Aptos: 302
Ben Lomond: 979
Boulder Creek: 3,678
Brookdale: 332
Felton: 1,470
Santa Cruz: 1,651
Scotts Valley: 1,021
Soquel: 135
Watsonville: 324
TOTAL: 9,892
9:30 a.m.: Thousands remain without power Thursday as officials continue fire mitigation efforts and PG&E works to repair downed power lines around the county.
The utility company has reopened a community resource center at Enterprise Technology Center in Scotts Valley to help those impacted by the power outages. There will be “refreshments and power available,” Santa Cruz County officials said in a tweet this morning.
Meanwhile, Cal Fire is warning of hazardous conditions in the Soquel Demonstration State Forest.
“Tuedsay’s major wind event has led to downed limbs and trees across all trails,” officials wrote. “Predicted rain could also have an impact on trail conditions for weeks.”
Wednesday, Jan. 20
As of Wednesday evening, Santa Cruz County’s rare January wildfire scare was inching closer to being over.
Cal Fire was reporting significant progress battling the host of wildfires sparked across Santa Cruz and San Mateo counties amid high winds earlier this week.
“Things are looking much better today,” Cal Fire CZU Unit Chief Ian Larkin told Lookout, adding that he was able to survey the fires from the air on Wednesday. “Crews on the ground have made great progress on getting a greater containment of each of the fires.”
Full containment was within reach for several fires Wednesday evening. But Larkin said said the effort to contain every wildfire may take until Friday morning — including for the largest of the blazes, the 37.4 acre Freedom Fire.
The cause of the fires remained under investigation, and fire officials declined to speculate on the possible role downed power lines countywide might have played. It’s also possible that within the CZU Lightning Complex burn scar that high winds might have reignited smoldering embers and sparked some of the 21 fires reported since Monday across both counties, according to multiple Cal Fire officials.
While many county residents wondered aloud on social media why power wasn’t preemptively shut off with high winds projected, PG&E spokesperson Mayra Tostado told Lookout that conditions weren’t met to enact a so-called Public Safety Power Shutoff. PG&E enacted such shutoffs for seven counties within its service area, but not for Santa Cruz County.
Tostado declined to elaborate other than to list the factors for such a preemptive shutoff, including low humidity levels, a Red Flag Warning from the National Weather Service, low moisture content in live vegetation and “real-time ground observations from our Wildfire Safety Operations Center and from our crews working across the service territory.”
Santa Cruz County was not under a Red Flag warning Monday night into Tuesday morning, but high winds and extremely dry vegetation were apparent in the mountains.
What is abundantly clear is how unusual — and alarming — it is to see so many fires in January, with several reaching dozens of acres in size, according to Larkin, the Cal Fire CZU unit chief.
“It’s just unheard of here in Santa Cruz County,” Larkin said.
“Right now, with the changing environment that we’re seeing and the larger fires — and just what we experienced this year with CZU Lightning Complex — it is very concerning,” he added.
As of 5 p.m. Wednesday, 14,365 customers remained without power across Santa Cruz County, according to PG&E — down from 16,992 in the morning.
Here’s the latest on the largest fires:
Freedom Fire: 37.4 acres, 70% contained at Freedom Boulevard and Hames Road in Aptos Hills-Larkin Valley. About 100 nearby homes were evacuated Tuesday and repopulated Wednesday, according to Cal Fire.
Panther Ridge Fire: 19.7 acres, 85% contained, on Stapp Road, east of Highway 9. About 20 nearby homes were evacuated Tuesday and repopulated Wednesday, according to Cal Fire.
China Grade Fire: 21.9 acres, 98% contained, on China Grade Road and Foxglove Lane, 4 miles northwest of Boulder Creek.
Bonny Doon Complex (formerly, Fanning and Empire fires): 19.8 acres, 95% contained at Fanning Grade Road in Ben Lomond.
North Butano Fire: 15 acres, 90% contained, in Pescadero Creek County Park, Loma Mar, in San Mateo County.
Bloom Fire: 8.6 acres, 90% contained, at Little Basin Road and Upper Bloom Grade Road, northwest of Boulder Creek.
4:25 p.m.: More than 15,000 customers remained without power across Santa Cruz County as of 3 p.m., according to PG&E.
Residents and businesses in some parts of Scotts Valley, Felton, Boulder Creek, Bonny Doon and Watsonville can expect their power to be restored by late Wednesday night, according to estimates provided by PG&E spokesperson Mayra Tostado. Other areas remained without any estimated restoration time due to “significant damage” to power infrastructure.
Customers can view an estimated restoration time for their addresses via PG&E’s online outage map.
The utility is opening a community resource center to support those impacted by outages at Enterprise Technology Center, 100 Enterprise Road in Scotts Valley. Offering power and refreshments, the center will be open betwenn 5:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. on Wednesday and is expected to reopen at 8 a.m. on Thursday. Face coverings and physical distancing will be required, among other health protocols.
Here’s the breakdown of customers still without power as of 3 p.m. Wednesday:
- Aptos: 550
- Ben Lomond: 2,476
- Boulder Creek: 3,640
- Brookdale: 332
- Felton: 3,093
- Santa Cruz: 1,875
- Scotts Valley: 1,842
- Soquel: 176
- Watsonville: 1,048
- TOTAL: 15,032
1:15 p.m.: Evacuation orders for the roughly 120 households impacted by the Freedom Fire near Watsonville and the Panther Ridge Fire near Boulder Creek have been lifted, Cal Fire announced on Twitter.
In all, roughly 100 acres burned across Santa Cruz County due to the 18 fires that sparked across the Santa Cruz Mountains since the early hours of Tuesday.
“Fortunately, no homes were lost, and there were no reported injuries to either residents or first responders,” Cal Fire wrote in a news release.
10:30 a.m.: Cal Fire hopes to completely contain most — if not all — of the fires burning in Santa Cruz and San Mateo counties by Wednesday evening, according to Cal Fire CZU spokesperson Cecile Juliette. “We are really in a mop-up stage for most if not all of these fires right now,” she said.
Firefighters hope to control the fires by the weekend, though Juliette said some smoke could persist until the next heavy rainfall.
When the estimated 120 households evacuated due to two of the fires would be allowed back home wasn’t clear. Juliette said to expect an update on that Wednesday afternoon.
Since Monday, Cal Fire has responded to at least 21 fires sparked — or reignited — amid high winds that toppled trees and downed power lines across both counties.
10 a.m.: Firefighters worked through the night, reporting progress containing multiple fires stoked by high winds Monday and Tuesday in Santa Cruz and San Mateo counties.
Meanwhile, PG&E reported that 16,992 customers remained without power as of 9 a.m. Crews continued working around the clock to restore power, but road closures stymied their efforts according to PG&E spokesperson Mayra Tostado.
Areas impacted by outages remained widespread, including Santa Cruz, Watsonville, the San Lorenzo Valley, Aptos, Soquel and Scotts Valley.
“In areas where hazards have been cleared, including parts of Scotts Valley and Boulder Creek, we are working to restore power by late this afternoon,” Tostado said in an email. “In other areas where damage is significant, power will be restored as quickly as possible due to challenges that are being cleared today.”
Here’s the latest on the largest fires:
Freedom Fire: 37 acres, 40% contained at Freedom Boulevard and Hames Road in Aptos Hills-Larkin Valley. An estimated 100 homes nearby have been evacuated by the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office, according to Cal Fire.
Panther Ridge Fire: 25 acres, 70% contained, on Stapp Road, east of Highway 9. About 20 homes were evacuated by the Sheriff’s Office due to this fire, according to Cal Fire.
China Grade Fire: 20 acres, 95% contained, on China Grade Road and Foxglove Lane, 4 miles northwest of Boulder Creek.
North Butano Fire: 10 acres, 95% contained, in Pescadero Creek County Park, Loma Mar, in San Mateo County.
Fanning Fire: No update. Previously listed as 18.81 acres, 95% contained on Fanning Grade Road in Ben Lomond.
Bloom Fire: 8 acres, 50% contained, at Little Basin Road and Upper Bloom Grade Road, northwest of Boulder Creek.
Empire Fire: 6 acres, 100% contained, on Alba Road at Empire Grade in Bonny Doon.
6:20 a.m.: The National Weather Service is forecasting another unseasonably dry and mild day after fire crews worked through the night to gain control over the multiple burning fires around Santa Cruz County.
About 400 Cal Fire crew members and 50 local government personnel worked for the second night straight. Since midnight Tuesday, they have battled more than a dozen fires and, as of last night, they were focused on trying to contain about six major ones. The Freedom Fire near Watsonville, which at last check was about 37 acres and 20% contained, and the Panther Ridge Fire in Boulder Creek prompted evacuations.
Cooler, wetter conditions are expected later in the week into the weekend. Cal Fire is expected to provide an update on overnight firefighting efforts soon.
Tuesday, Jan. 19
7:45 p.m.: Cal Fire has reported progress battling several wildfires in Santa Cruz and San Mateo counties and refined its estimates of the size of the blazes.
Fire officials told Lookout that roughly 400 Cal Fire and local government personnel were battling the blazes across both counties — along with about 50 engines, four water tenders and two dozers. Additional support was expected to arrive overnight Tuesday, according to Cal Fire CZU spokeswoman Cecile Juliette.
Here’s the latest on individual fires:
Freedom Fire: The blaze at Freedom Boulevard and Hames Road was revised in size to 37 acres, down from an estimated 40 acres earlier Tuesday. It is 20% contained. An estimated 100 homes nearby have been evacuated by the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office.
Panther Ridge Fire: The 15-acre blaze burning on Stapp Road, east of Highway 9, was 55% contained. About 20 homes were evacuated by the Sheriff’s Office due to this fire.
Fanning Fire: This fire has burned about 18.81 acres of timber on Fanning Grade Road in Ben Lomond, and is 95% contained.
Empire Fire: No updates were reported to this fire on Alba Road at Empire Grade in Bonny Doon. As of Tuesday afternoon, it had burned six acres and was listed as 0% contained.
China Grade Fire: This 20-acre fire on China Grade Road and Foxglove Lane, 4 miles northwest of Boulder Creek, is 100% contained.
North Butano Fire: Firefighters cut their way through the forest to access the 10-acre fire in San Mateo County, and it was 95% contained by Tuesday night. The fire is in the CZU Lightning Complex burn area.
Bloom Fire: A 5-acre blaze at Little Basin Road and Upper Bloom Grade Road, northwest of Boulder Creek, was 0% contained
6:30 p.m.: The temporary evacuation center at the Corralitos Community Church will close at 7 p.m., the county announced. Only two people were at the center when Lookout visited it Tuesday afternoon.
3:20 p.m.: Cal Fire crews are making progress in battling most of the wildfires around Santa Cruz County. Officials say the flames are moving at a slow and “creeping” pace as strong winds that were swirling earlier Tuesday have slowed.
“The winds have died down and (the firefighters) are making good progress as we speak,” said Cecile Juliette, spokesperson for Cal Fire CZU. However, officials are “expecting winds to kick up again tonight and everyone should be prepared and ready to go if necessary,” she added.
Here’s the latest:
Freedom Fire: The blaze on Freedom Road north of Watsonville has ballooned to 40 acres from 16.25 acres two hours ago. It is about 20% contained. An estimated 100 homes nearby have been evacuated by the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office.
Panther Ridge Fire: The fire burning on Stapp Road, east of Highway 9 has now shrunk to 10 to 12 acres from 15 acres two hours ago. It is about 55% contained. About 20 homes were evacuated by the sheriff’s office due to this fire.
Fanning Fire: This fire has burned about 18.81 acres of timber on Fanning Grade Road in Ben Lomond, and is 95% contained.
Empire Fire: This fire on Alba Road at Empire Grade in Bonny Doon remains unchanged since late Tuesday morning. It continues to burn over the span of six acres remains 0% contained. There are no buildings that are threatened by this fire and no evacuations prompted as a result of it.
China Grade Fire: This 20-acre fire that was burning on China Grade Road and Foxglove Lane, 4 miles northwest of Boulder Creek is now 100% contained with no evacuations deemed necessary.
North Butano Fire: This 10-acre fire in San Mateo County continues to burn with 0% containment in the CZU Lightning Complex burn area. Fire crews are still trying to access the fire by cutting their way in because of trees and debris that are blocking access roads.
As of 3 p.m., more than 22,000 PG&E customers in the county are also without power, according to spokesperson Mayra Tostado. Here is the breakdown:
- Aptos: 2,384
- Ben Lomond: 2,478
- Boulder Creek: 4,062
- Brookdale: 332
- Felton: 3,288
- Santa Cruz: 2,130
- Scotts Valley: 2,992
- Soquel: 175
- Watsonville: 4,886
- TOTAL: 22,727
“Crews are working to restore power to customers where debris, such as downed trees or large limbs and other hazards, have been cleared. We’ve made progress in Santa Cruz and hope to restore power to more customers on the Santa Cruz Mountains and in Watsonville,” she wrote in an email to Lookout.
She warned that wind-related damage may cause new outages as the day progresses.
2:40 p.m.: An evacuation center for those impacted by the Panther Ridge and Freedom fires is now open, Santa Cruz County officials said.
The center, operated by the American Red Cross and Santa Cruz County, is located at the Corralitos Community Church, 26 Browns Valley Road in Corralitos. Officials say “the temporary evacuation center will provide residents displaced by the fires with refreshments, resources and links to critical services including shelter if necessary.”
1:40 p.m.: Cal Fire has issued an update Tuesday afternoon as firefighters continue to battle multiple blazes in Santa Cruz County, some of which have prompted evacuations. Here’s the latest:
Freedom Fire: The fire blazing on Freedom Blvd north of Watsonville has grown to about 16.25 acres and is 0% contained. About 100 homes were evacuated as a result of this fire.
Panther Ridge Fire: This blaze is on Staph Road in Boulder Creek, west of Highway 9, and has grown to 15 acres, officials said. It is 30% contained and an estimated 20 homes were evacuated in response.
North Butano Fire: This fire, in San Mateo County, is burning in the CZU Lightning Complex Fire burn area, officials said. It has grown to 10 acres and is 0% contained. “Firefighters are cutting down debris in the road to try to access this fire,” officials tweeted.
A Cal Fire spokesperson also alerted Lookout’s Nick Ibarra to a new 20-acre fire called the China Grade fire that’s blazing on China Grade Road near Boulder Creek.
Meanwhile, for those who have been impacted by the fire, the Santa Cruz County Emergency Operations Center designated the Corralitos Community Church as a resource center for the people in South County who are impacted by the fire, according to the Aptos/ La Selva Fire District.
The resource center, located at 26 Browns Valley Road in Corralitos, will be opened to the public at 2 p.m. and food, water, cell phone chargers and more will be available.
1:10 p.m.: Cal Fire is reporting updates on four fires that are burning in Santa Cruz County. Two of those fires — the Freedom Fire and the Panther Ridge Fire — have prompted a small number of evacuations.
“At this point if winds cooperate we do not anticipate additional evacuations, but if winds begin to pick up speed that could change,” Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Ashley Keehn said.
Keehn said she is working to confirm the number of people who have been evacuated.
Here’s the latest on the four fires.
Freedom Fire on Freedom Road, north of Watsonville: Isolated mandatory evacuations are in place for people near the Freedom Fire, which now spans four to five acres large and, for now, is holding at that size. The Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office has evacuated people on Nunes Road, Halton Lane, Willow Heights and Gillete Road.
Panther Ridge Fire on Staph Road west of Highway 9 in Boulder Creek: This fire now measures about 7 to 8 acres. Isolated evacuations are in place for residents on Panther Ridge Road. Officials say the fire has been “short-range spotting.”
Santa Cruz County Spokesperson Jason Hoppin said a much smaller number of people than originally estimated had been evacuated in Boulder Creek.
Keehn said those evacuations weren’t mandatory.
“There were no mandatory evacuations called for Panther Ridge. People self-evacuated and they were told by first responders on scene that there was a fire nearby — if they felt the need to evacuate, they should.”
Keehn also said: “I do know that a lot of people have self-evacuated in that area.”
Fanning Fire, on Fanning Grade Road in Ben Lomond West of Highway 9: This fire has grown to 14.6 acres but is 30% contained. There are no evacuations related to the fire.
Bonny Complex Fire, in the Bonny Doon area: This fire is a combination of two vegetation fires and has been contained and controlled. The fire burned a total of 4 acres and no evacuations were ordered for it.
12 p.m.: Firefighters are seen battling a fire near Willow Heights and Gillete Road in this video by Lookout photographer Kevin Painchaud:
11:38 a.m.: The Freedom Fire is burning 5 acres north of Watsonville, prompting additional evacuations at Ben’s Way and Halton Road, according to the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office. Cal Fire’s CZU Unit said it is focusing its efforts on fighting five fires in Santa Cruz and San Mateo counties:
- Freedom Fire (5 acres, 0% contained) on Freedom Road, north of Watsonville. Reported at 8 a.m., burning in timber, and was 0% contained. Evacuations ordered.
- Panther Ridge Fire (5 acres, 0% contained) on Staph Road west of Highway 9 in Boulder Creek. Evacuation warnings issued, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
- Empire Fire (6 acres, 0% contained) on Alba Road at Empire Grade in Bonny Doon is burning in timber, and is 0% contained. No reported structure threat, no evacuations.
- North Butano Fire (10 acres, 0% contained) in San Mateo County, burning in timber with no reported structure threat.
- Fanning Fire (14 acres, 30% contained) on Fanning Grade Road in Ben Lomond West of Highway 9, burning in timber.
11:20 a.m.: National Weather Service satellite imagery shows smoke from both of the new wildfires in Santa Cruz County. Forecasters say moderate to strong northeast winds “are still being observed this morning over the Mountains/Foothills & are not expected to level off until later this afternoon.”
11:15 a.m. Cal Fire and the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office said two new fires were reported Tuesday morning, one off Freedom Boulevard in Watsonville and a second one in the Boulder Creek area off Highway 9 that was burning over more than 7 acres.
Evacuations for both fires were being initiated, according to Santa Cruz County spokesperson Jason Hoppin. The evacuation location for the Watsonville fire is at Nunes Road, in Aptos Hills-Larkin Valley for about 150 people. The evacuation location for the second fire is Panther Ridge Road in the Boulder Creek area for about 1,100 people.
All this was on top of a fire at Empire Grade and Alba Road that was burning over five acres uncontained as of 10 a.m., among other fires. There weren’t evacuations associated with those fires.
Winds had reignited multiple fires in the CZU Lightning Complex burn area, according to Cal Fire spokeswoman Cecile Juliette.
“It’s an all hands on deck situation,” Juliette said.
Cal Fire’s CZU Unit said it responded to at least 10 vegetation fires overnight across Santa Cruz and San Mateo counties, including several in the burn scar of the CZU Lightning Complex fire. All engines were committed to battling the numerous fires Tuesday, the agency said, with support incoming from other units.
Other parts of the Bay Area are under a Red Flag Warning — indicating a high risk of fire — which is unusual for mid-January. “Strong and gusty offshore winds combined with unseasonably low humidity” will create critical fire conditions for the higher elevations in Monterey and San Benito Counties, National Weather Service forecasters say. The Red Flag Warning for those areas runs through 3 p.m. Tuesday.
Here are other weather-related developments this morning:
High Wind Warning: Winds were regularly being clocked at 20 mph to 30 mph at higher elevations, with gusts of upwards of 60 mph. The National Weather Service overnight extended its High Wind Warning for the Santa Cruz Mountains, North Bay Mountains, East Bay Hills and Diablo Range from through 10 a.m. Tuesday. That warning had been set to expire at 7 a.m. A wind advisory is in effect for the entire Bay Area and Central Coast through 6 p.m Tuesday.
Outages and downed power lines: In Santa Cruz County, PG&E’s outage map was showing a concentration of outages in the Boulder Creek area. The California Highway Patrol said it was “responding to numerous calls” of downed trees and wires countywide.
The Santa Cruz Fire Dispatch Twitter account showed officials had received more than three dozen reports of downed wires and power lines as of 8:30 a.m. in the Santa Cruz area.
Meanwhile, PG&E implemented a Public Safety Power Shutoff for seven other counties — Fresno, Kern, Madera, Mariposa, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Tulare. If you lose power, you can check the PG&E power outage map here to find out when it might be restored.