(SF Gate) – Meteorologists had forecast the most severe winds in years in the Bay Area. Weather conditions are unfolding as expected, with gusts knocking mountaintops, howling through valleys and spreading flames at the site of the Kincade Fire in north Sonoma County on Sunday morning.
A 102 mph gust was recorded at Pine Flat at 3,300 feet at 8 a.m. National Weather Service forecaster noted the wind speed on Twitter and shared that sustained winds had also “officially broke Hurricane Force (78 mph).”
Other top speeds included an 87 mph gust recorded atop Mount St. Helena at 5:10 a.m. and a 93 mph wind measured at the Healdsburg North Hills site around 6 a.m. Both of these locations are near the blaze: Winds at these speeds can throw embers more than a mile and start spot fires. READ MORE
