The area’s respite from the rain is expected to end Wednesday when the first in a series of storms delivers more wet stuff to the region.
But these storms aren’t packing the same punch as the slow-moving systems that pounded Northern California last week, causing widespread flooding and road closures, according to the National Weather Service.
This week’s storms are expected to be fast-moving systems that bring heavy rain for a few hours, according to Ryan Walbrun, a meteorologist with the weather service. Last week’s system stalled over parts of the Bay Area for 24 to 36 hours, delivering constant downpours.
“We’re not expecting the impacts to be nearly as significant as last week,” Walbrun said.
The first system is expected to arrive Wednesday afternoon or evening and move south through the region, delivering heavy rain for three to six hours, Walbrun said. Predicted rainfall amounts range from about a half-inch to 1.5 inches.
The second system is predicted to impact area on Thursday night into Friday morning, Walbrun said. The system, which does not have as much moisture as the first storm, will be coming from the Pacific Northwest and has a “lot more cold air” associated with it.
The third system is expected to arrive Sunday and could have more substantial rain, Walburn said.
Overall, the three storm systems could deliver three to five inches of rain to the coastal hills and two to four inches to cities throughout the Bay Area, Walbrun said.
Add those totals to the rain the Bay Area received earlier this month and “we’re looking at a wet January” with a “lot of rain across most of California.” Santa Rosa has already received 11.67 inches of rain this month.
The January storms have sent rainfall totals across the Bay Area surging above normal for this time of year. Since the rainfall season began on Oct. 1, San Francisco has recorded 14.63 inches (132 percent of normal), Oakland 13.10 inches (133 percent), San Jose 7.43 inches (113 percent) and Santa Rosa 30.09 inches (168 percent).
The storms are also expected to bring more snow to the Sierra Nevada, where the snowpack level is currently at a staggering 163 percent of normal. Snowpack in the Sierra Nevada, which peaks on April 1, has finished below its annual average each of the past five years.
Once the third system clears out next Monday or Tuesday, early indications are the the Bay Area will dry out for the rest of the month, Walbrun said.
