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(BCN) – A Red Flag Warning was allowed to expire for the Bay Area and Central Coast after gusty offshore winds eased, the National Weather Service said Saturday afternoon.
While wind speeds subsided, “nearly critically dry conditions persist through early next week,” the weather forecast office for the San Francisco Bay Area said on social media.
Wind gusts in the North Bay mountains and East Bay mountains that were as high as 50 mph to 60 mph overnight had fallen to 20 mph to 25 mph by late afternoon, meteorologist Dylan Flynn said.
Red Flag danger is determined by a combination of wind speed and humidity, he said.
“We lost one of them — we lost wind speed, that’s good,” Flynn said. “We’re no longer hitting Red Flag criteria, but we’re still flirting with Red Flag criteria.”
The weather service said that as of 6 p.m., humidity was 28% at San Francisco’s official climate station, the San Francisco Mint, 11% in south Santa Clara County at San Martin Airport, and 22% at Napa County Airport.
Near the Keller Fire in the Caballo Hills of East Oakland, humidity was 13%, but the wind had diminished to 5 mph. The fire burned 15 acres and was 60% contained Saturday afternoon, according to Cal Fire.
Some evacuations were lifted, but other residents east of Interstate Highway 580 remained under evacuation orders on Saturday.
About 200 firefighters from several Bay Area fire departments were called to back up the Oakland Fire Department after flames broke out about 1:30 p.m. Friday off Interstate 580 and Keller Avenue.
“Without them, we would be having a very different conversation,” OFD Fire Chief Damon Covington said at a press briefing on Saturday morning. Two homes were damaged, and about a dozen were threatened at the height of the fire. No injuries were reported.
The University of California, Berkeley announced precautions related to the Red Flag Warning at its football game on Saturday, including suspending live cannon fire and pyrotechnics. Outdoor barbecues were banned on campus.
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