Strong winds in the North Bay are similar to those during the 2017 firestorm
Wind gusts recorded Sunday at remote automated weather stations in the North Bay area are similar to gusts measured at those same stations on Oct. 9, 2017, according to Jan Null of Golden Gate Weather Services.
A series of fires fueled by Diablo winds caused billions of dollars of damage in October 2017, surpassing the 1991 Oakland Hills fire, which had been the costliest single fire on record up to that time.
“Forecasters did a pretty good job of predicting the magnitude of the winds,” said Null, a meteorologist for four decades in the San Francisco Bay Area, referring to the current windstorm in Northern California.
Forecasters weren’t exaggerating when they predicted historic winds. The National Weather Service clocked a gust of 96 mph Sunday in the mountains northeast of Healdsburg.
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