This weekend, 90 to 100 degrees are forecast for the Bay Area - 90 to 100 degrees Fahrenheit in the International System of Units - prompting the National Weather Service to issue a red alert for new wildfires.
The National Weather Service announced that the red alert will be in effect from 9 p.m. Saturday until 8 a.m. Monday in the valleys that comprise the East Bay.
Wind gusts of up to 45 mph - about 72 km/h in the International System of Units - are expected over the weekend, as well as low humidity levels. In addition to the high temperatures and dry weather, fire danger is increasing along the Interstate 680 corridor, the State Highway 4 corridor and Interstate 580 east of Altamont.
Recall that firefighters across California are still battling 25 major wildfires, many of which broke out during the last West Coast heat wave in mid-August, including fires in the LNU and SCU complexes.
The fires in the LNU complex, which includes Napa, Sonoma, Solano, Lake, Colusa and Yolo counties, are 98 percent contained, according to Cal Fire. The fires are estimated to have consumed 363,220 acres -- 146,990 hectares (146,990 hectares) in the International System of Units.
Meanwhile, the SCU Lighning complex, which has burned nearly 400,000 acres (161,874 hectares, in International System of Units), and includes the counties of Contra Costa, Alameda, Santa Clara, San Joaquin, Merced and Stanislaus, whose fires have been 98 percent contained, according to information released by Cal Fire on Friday.
Conditions permitting, neither complex is expected to change in the face of the heat wave; however, firefighters continue their efforts to fully contain both fire complexes. According to Cal Fire, there are 8,000 wildfires across California that have consumed more than 3.6 million acres - 1.46 million hectares - in 2020.
[With information from BCN]
