El Niño’s return to Northern California is not over.
Following a potent weekend storm that delivered significant rain to the region and snow to the Sierra Nevada, forecasters say another “atmospheric river” is approaching Northern California. The next storm system should help many locations boost annual rainfall averages — and be the next step toward helping the region reach above-average totals for the first time in five years.
More than 2.5 inches of rain fell on Lakeport from Saturday through Monday. Higher elevations received more, with Cobb receiving well over 3 inches, according to Accuweather.
The weekend storms knocked down trees throughout the region. Much of the damage hit the Bay Area, where felled trees caused power outages and blocked major roadways. The storm interrupted power to approximately 16,000 Bay Area residents. Lake County residents reported a few incidents of structure damage from trees, including a trailer crushed by a large oak off Woodward Way in Lakeport, and power was out in places for a short time on Saturday.
A flash flood warning had been issued for the Valley Fire area, but according Public Works Director Scott DeLeon, the rains caused “nothing out of the ordinary.”
Crews from the county noted drainage issues in several locations, but the greater number of these were outside the burn area.
Elsewhere, storm related problems mounted. Monday morning two large trees fell and were blocking lanes in both directions of Highway 92 between Highway 35 and an area just east of Lemos Farm in Half Moon Bay.
In Santa Cruz County, weekend storms caused widespread flooding. And in North San Jose, storm water is a possible cause of a partial roof collapse Monday morning at an unoccupied industrial office building on Ringwood Avenue. The San Jose Fire Department was summoned by an alarm activation, and responding firefighters found the damage, and summoned specialist crews to secure the structure and to prevent any chemicals from washing into storm drains.
Light amounts of rainfall are possible Tuesday and Wednesday. But another storm system is expected to drench the area beginning Thursday, delivering between 1.5 to 2 inches of rain to the Bay Area and more elsewhere, according to Charles Bell of the National Weather Service.
Accuweather forecasts project a comparative deluge for Lake County, with 2.17 inches pelting Lakeport and 1.93 falling on Cobb Mountain Thursday. By the end of the weekend more than 4 inches could hit parts of the county.
The amount of rain depends on how quickly the atmospheric river moves across the area, Bell observed.
“If it slowly moves through, we’ll see much higher amounts,” Bell said. “It’s one everyone is going to keep an eye on as it gets a little closer.”
Lake County Public Works staff are ready for any scenario.
“Our guys are prepared, they got a game plan,” DeLeon said. “So far things have held up.”
Following a dry February, the weekend soaking helped boost seasonal rainfall totals.
Most locations in Northern California have received between 83 percent to 97 percent of average totals through March 6, Bell pointed out.
Dave Faries, Jason Morash and Robert Salonga contributed to this report.
