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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — The National Weather Service has issued a flood watch and wind advisory for Lake County through the weekend due to incoming storms.
The flood watch is in effect from 4 p.m. Friday through 10 p.m. Sunday, while the wind advisory lasts from 1 p.m. Friday through 4 p.m. Saturday.
Forecasters said there will be rain and mountain snow, along with gusting winds and the potential for thunderstorms across Northern California through Monday.
The forecast calls for south winds of up to 25 miles per hour and gusting winds up to 60 miles per hour in northern Lake County.
Rainfall totals through Monday could reach nearly 3 inches, according to the forecast.
After Monday, chances of rainfall are expected to lessen but to continue through Thursday.
Daytime temperatures through the weekend will hover in the low 50s, dropping into the high 40s at the start of the week.
Nighttime conditions into next week will be in the high 40s, dropping into the high 30s.
The rainy conditions over the past week have given Clear Lake a boost.
The United States Geological Survey’s gauge on Clear Lake shows that since the day after Christmas, the lake’s depth rose from 4.27 feet Rumsey, the special measure for the lake, up to 5.11 feet Rumsey by early Friday morning.
On Jan. 2, 2025, Clear Lake’s level was at 5.90, according to USGS historical records.
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Some homeowners in areas of California with high wildfire risk could eventually get money for new roofs or to build fire-resistant zones around their properties under a new state law that goes into effect today.
The Safe Homes grant program is designed to help low- and middle-income homeowners with fire mitigation. People who qualify could use grants to create 5-foot ember-resistant zones around properties, also known as Zone Zero, as required by law in some areas. The program will also contribute toward costs for fire-safe roofs.
The state’s Insurance Department, which is responsible for implementing the program, is working out the details around eligibility, the amount of and the distribution of grants. It is now developing an application portal that it hopes to have ready by March, said Michael Soller, spokesperson for the department.
The insurance department will be handling all the details of the grants, said Mike Dayton, chief of staff of Assemblymember Lisa Calderon, the Los Angeles-area Democrat and chair of the Assembly Insurance Committee who wrote the law, and has so far secured $3 million in the state budget to get the program started.
Soller said homeowners who have policies with admitted insurance carriers or the last-resort FAIR Plan and who live in high-risk areas will have to meet income limits set by the state housing department to be eligible for the grants, whose amounts have not been determined. Communities, cities and counties with mitigation projects could also apply for grants.
He also said the insurance department plans to advocate for additional and ongoing funding for the program.
Another source of funding could be the federal government, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Soller said. But Gov. Gavin Newsom recently tried to meet with FEMA to talk about disaster aid related to the Los Angeles County fires and was unsuccessful.
Also, two Californians in Congress have proposed legislation that would establish a federal grant program and tax credits for mitigation. U.S. Reps. Mike Thompson, a Napa Democrat, and Doug LaMalfa, an Oroville Republican, have introduced their bill for the past two sessions, but it has not made it to a floor vote.
The California Board of Forestry and Fire Protection recently extended the finalization of rules regarding Zone Zero buffers around properties to the first half of next year. The rules are expected to take effect for existing homes in 2029.
This article was originally published on CalMatters and was republished under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license.
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