Tourism, which is usually booming amid the fall colors and mild temperatures, has taken a serious blow. Evacuations of nearby Healdsburg and Windsor, along with planned blackouts by the region's utility, PG&E — plus, the widespread misperception that the vineyards themselves burned — led to a rash of cancellations for hotel, restaurant and tasting-room reservations.
Joe Bartolomei, owner of the upscale boutique hotel Farmhouse Inn in Forestville, said he would normally be sold out this time of year. But on Nov. 1, his inn had only two of 25 rooms filled. He's trying to get the message out that the county businesses are intact and open for visitors. But, he said, "it's going to be a slow, gradual education."
Visitor numbers had just started recovering from a similar drop-off following the 2017 fires, said Sonoma County Tourism president Clauda Vecchio.
So the tourism bureau now plans to promote wine country as a spring destination rather than fall, and is devoting the bulk of its $750,000 advertising budget to that end. That means convincing visitors to come celebrate "bud break," when green shoots make the vineyards colorful, rather than the harvest itself.
But to boost tourism numbers to a level she'd like, Vecchio says she would really need roughly ten times the budget. The good news, Diffenbaugh said, is that people have a long history of figuring out how to thrive in all kinds of environments.
"Humans are really good at dealing with a variety of different conditions," he said. "What climate change is doing is changing which conditions occur where."