Large swaths of California had no electricity on Monday as utilities tried to prevent the chance of their equipment sparking wildfires while the fire-weary state was buffeted by powerful winds and dangerously dry weather conditions.
About 300,000 power customers estimated at more than 1 million people were in the dark as officials issued warnings for what could be the strongest winds for California this year.
North of San Francisco, a Mount St Helena weather station recorded a hurricane-force gust of 89 mph (143 kph) late Sunday and sustained winds of 76 mph (122 kph).
Winds had calmed slightly by Monday morning but still topped 60 mph (97 kph), the National Weather Service said.
While this is less than what we saw earlier, these winds are still strong and dry conditions prevail, the agency said on Twitter.
