3 New Weather Stations Installed In Napa County: PG&E

NAPA, CA — With the addition this year of 200 new weather stations across its territory — including three more in Napa County — Pacific Gas and Electric Company is positioned to refine the scope of public safety power shutoffs and prepare for increasingly common severe weather events, the utility announced Wednesday.

PG&E currently has 1,200 weather stations across its territory and plans to have 1,300 by the end of this year, PG&E North Bay Spokesperson Deanna Contreras said in a news release.

"This will equip the company with one weather station for every 20-line miles of electric distribution circuits within Tier 2 and Tier 3 High Fire-Threat Districts, as designated by the California Public Utilities Commission," Contreras said.

The weather stations capture data such as temperature, wind speed and humidity levels so that PG&E forecasters know where severe weather may be headed. During a public safety power shutoff — PSPS — PG&E turns off specific power lines to prevent tree branches and other debris from coming into contact with energized power lines.

“We know that losing power disrupts lives, especially for our customers with medical needs," said Mark Quinlan, PG&E's vice president of PSPS Operations and Execution. "That is why we are finding ways to reduce the impact of PSPS events without compromising safety. The sole focus of a PSPS is to keep our customers safe."

PG&E started installing weather stations in 2018. There are currently at least 44 weather stations in Napa County, with the newest ones installed at Whitehall Lane, Mt. Veeder and Aetna Springs Road.

These new weather stations send hyperlocal data not only to PG&E meteorologists but also to analysts and experts in PG&E’s Wildfire Safety Operations Center. The WSOC is the hub where PG&E detects, evaluates, monitors and responds to wildfire threats across its service area, Contreras said.

Members of the public can view information from the weather stations at pge.com/weather.

"Observations from the weather stations contribute to the improvement of our predictive capabilities for PSPS events," said Ashley Helmetag, senior PG&E meteorologist. "We now have a historical database of these observations, many in remote areas where we have never had this level of detailed data before, and it is now used to help fine-tune our models to better predict when critical fire weather conditions may occur. As the model is improved, the forecast becomes more accurate, allowing meteorologists to limit the scope of PSPS events to the areas where the riskiest fire weather conditions are expected, and to do so with higher confidence."