SANTA CRUZ — For the second time in less than a month, weather officials are warning that extreme wind this week will lead to dangerous fires on the Central Coast.

As forecasters predict wind speeds ranging from 20 mph to 50 mph in high-elevation areas and relative humidity that could drop into the single digits, the National Weather Service issued a red flag warning Monday that includes the entire county from Santa Cruz. The call to remain on alert for potentially devastating wildfires will officially begin at 11 a.m. Tuesday – Election Day – in the county and across the country – and continue until 7 a.m. morning Thursday.

“It’s a combination of offshore winds and dry conditions,” said Roger Gass, a meteorologist with the weather service. “The main concern will be from Tuesday night to Wednesday morning.”

The red flag warning means that critical fire weather conditions — where even a small spark can lead to a disastrous wildfire — are likely imminent, especially in areas of the Santa Cruz Mountains where grasses are still very dry and where the fastest wind gusts are expected to occur. sweep.

Gass warned the public against any activity that could lead to ignition and highlighted the dangers of unsecured metal tow chains trailing behind moving vehicles and potentially scattering sheets of hot embers into dry brush along local roads.

“It’s one of the biggest contributing factors to fire starts,” Gass said.

Utility provider Pacific Gas & Electric Co., for its part, said it was stepping up its fire protection efforts by planning a series of safety power outages that could affect 20,000 customers in four tribal areas and 17 counties, including Santa Cruz. The first round of closures will take place on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the earliest if weather conditions do not improve.

Jason Hoppin, a Santa Cruz County spokesman, told the Sentinel on Monday that no polling places were included in the scope of the security closures and that the election would go off without a hitch.

“We recognize that Tuesday, November 5 is Election Day and we will do everything possible to ensure a smooth election process,” Teresa Alvarado, vice president of PG&E’s South Bay and Central Coast region, said in a press release. “We began working with state and local election officials over a month (ago) to ensure the reliability of polling locations and tabulation centers.”

According to PG&E’s outage map, available at pge.com/pspsupdatesCounty areas within the scope of the closure include the upper region of Soquel Demonstration State Forest near Summit Road and sections adjacent to Nisene Marks Forest State Park along from Eureka Canyon Road. PG&E has notified customers who may be affected, according to the release.

The red flag warning comes just days after the county received its first round of wet weather in weeks, although experts say it won’t be enough to provide much protection against dangerous fire conditions. A smaller wind swept through the county Sunday and early Monday, Gass said, likely erasing most of the moisture benefits gained over the weekend.

The rain system moved across the Central Coast region Friday evening and early Saturday and brought a light dusting of rain to the parched landscape, with Sentinel weather observers reporting 0.55 inches of rain in Ben Lomond and 0. 45 inch in Soquel.

“We had some pretty decent rain last week,” Hoppin said. “I think the problem is that the wind dries up that water and makes the fields vulnerable again.”

This vulnerability is nothing new since county officials, fire crews and PG&E mobilized during a similarly precarious low-humidity wind event just a few weeks ago. Strong winds of more than 50 mph in mountainous areas have weather experts on alert for several days in mid-October as firefighters increased staffing in anticipation of an emergency and PG&E implemented a series of safety shutdowns in densely forested county areas.

But even with all the preparations underway, Hoppin said quite a few residents experienced outages during the last wind storm due to downed power lines and falling branches and that this upcoming event would cause a possible repetition.

“I would expect to see other outages starting later (Tuesday) and Wednesday that are not related to the public safety power outage,” he said.