The Santa Ana winds are a thing to behold. Have been pushed around in a light weight 18 wheeler in those, not fun.

It's going to be a smokey spell and I hope no more fires start, it's a really bad combo. I have lots of family in the state, north to south, and I hear it first hand from them. That video is a good example of how a spark can be devastating under those conditions.

Don't worry, they have a solution:
First, shut off ALL power across the state. "For the duration."
Second, petition for another rate hike (standard form).

That second part isn't part of any emergency measure, it's a regularly scheduled event.

It never stops. Greedy bastards!

of burying the lines underground (where they wouldn't be subject to wind) on two separate occasions.

Both times, they apparently sleet the money on bonuses and buybacks.

and hit central and Northern CA, while the Santa Ana Winds are the dry winds from the East (desert) that effect Southern CA?

Down here in San Diego it is HOT and DRY but no Santa Anas so far near the coast. This very week has always a very bad time for us here (2003 and 2007 were fires that destroyed over 4,000 homes).

I smelled smoke two days ago but the fire near me was small and knocked down quickly, thank Dog.

Don’t know if the ones yesterday (10-24) are technically Diablo winds, but the ones we had a few weeks ago were.

to turn off power?

in the shade all this week and expected to continues....YUK! Now the vicious mosquitoes will eat what is left of me (50+ bites currently on my legs alone...this is the new problem in LA and here too).

I have all my fire emergency stuff ready, including a full tank of gas. I am ready to evacuate with my little senior doggy within a 5 min warning. Too many people that I know have lost homes.

And it isn't supposed to get bad in my area until 3 a.m.
Car isn't packed, but the pile is sitting in the living room. Where I live, everyone has a to-go pile ready 365 days a year.

I can remember when we were concerned two or maybe three months out of the year. Now it's year-round. I'm too old for this! It's nerve-wracking.

Not quite as senior as my dog but close enough. I do NOT like hearing that it is already blowing in North County since I have friends all over the area. Glad to hear that you are prepared. Stay safe!!!!!!!

I hate these winds. I'm a SoCal native, so I'm used to them. But I used to live in the city, and now I'm basically in a canyon. Not the greatest place to be in this kind of weather. I know you mentioned 2007. That was not a fun year. We got a 30-second warning to get out. Thankfully, I had packed the cars up 48 hours earlier as I had a really bad feeling.

So now every time it's hot and windy, I get nervous.

Editing to add that I just went outside, and the winds have died down. Yay! Now they just need to stay that way. Doubt that will happen, but I'll take any calm moment we can get.

it crossed all the lanes at the 163 and 15 merge in Miramar near the school I taught at. There was a fire in the city in 1985 and it started at the 8 and near 163 and went up the hill to Normal Heights and burned 75 homes. That area is very close to me so being in the city isn't always safe. La Jolla would've burned down in 2003 if the winds didn't change when they did. The fire burns all the way to the ocean, ask the people in LA.

A lot of personal crap going on. When I lived in the city, I was up in LA and Orange counties.

The canyon I'm speaking of is on the 15. So we only have two choices. North or south. During the 2007 fire, everyday it changed. One day we could go south, the next day that was blocked and if we had to get out we could go north. The night before we evacuated, I stayed up all night, watching the news. I think I fell asleep for about 15 minutes here and there.

I remember getting up and going and looking out the window, and one of my neighbors was out in the street, running around in his boxer shorts. And I couldn't figure out what was going on until I opened the front door, and all the smoke and the ash came straight in.

I was taking care of my elderly parents, and my dad was already up. When we got the 30-second warning, we had to wake my mom, get her dressed and in the car, and off we went. Not good memories.

You sound like you've been through all of them. I feel for you! I never thought I would be living somewhere that would have me on alert all the time.

Investing in safety upgrades is counter to the priority of short-term profit and shareholder dividends.

that my area may go out starting saturaday. i live in an 2 story apartment complex and cant have a generator. so is this the new normal now ? when we get diablo winds we loose power when the humidity drops below a certain percentage along with the fuel stick moisture content and the burn index? (forest service terms )?

This weeks was significantly smaller than two weeks ago. PG&E took a lot of heat for that, so they kept more lines open. I’ll bet the Kincade fire is a result of that decision — one that the utility is now really regretting.

In the meantime, they are shutting people off again!

Was not expecting PG&E to have 'Go Solar' resources, but they do. Just goes to show there's profit in Going Green.

https://www.pge.com/en_US/residential/solar-and-vehicles/options/option-overview/how-to-get-started/how-to-get-started.page

Some with mirrors focusing light on boilers, some with mirrors focusing light on pipes that provide pressure, some with photovoltaic cells. Even with the photovoltaic cells there's still economy of scale considerations.

Still have to transport the energy.

My brother had solar power back in the '70s, I guess it was. Not for electricity, but a unit that would provide plenty of hot water. Even if it didn't accomplish 0 emissions, it saved both watts and $. Lots are stuck on 0 and 1 thinking--0.5 makes no sense in an all-integer binary world.

And grid-tied systems don't work when the grid goes down due to no battery banks in the house.