Aidan Freeman contributed to this report.
LAKE COUNTY — The National Weather Service issued flood warnings for portions of Lake County Wednesday afternoon as heavy rainfall was expected through that night, with moderate rainfall continuing through Friday.
A NWS-Sacramento forecaster said Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. that Lakeport had received 2.47 inches of rain in the past 24 hours, with 1–2 additional inches expected on average around the county by Thursday morning. Mt. Konocti had received 3.27 inches in the same 24-hour period.
“That is a lot. It is a very wet system,” forecaster Hannah Chandler-Cooley said. “We’re expecting rain into Saturday, but the heaviest should be through by overnight tonight, with some moderate rainfall tomorrow,” she said Wednesday.
Two flood warnings—one for the Mendocino National Forest portion of Lake County east of Lake Pillsbury, and another for the eastern part of the county—had been put into effect Wednesday.
Chandler-Cooley noted that “even a few inches of rain can wash away a car,” and warned drivers not to continue along roads that are flooded.
Road closures and flooding in Lake County communities were reported by multiple sources Wednesday. At 3:41 p.m., the Lake County Public Works Department reported roads in Kelseyville, Lakeport and Middletown had been closed due to flooding. The Lakeport Police Department reported a stretch of Martin Street to be closed Wednesday morning, and flooding was reported on Old Highway 53 in Clearlake by a resident of the area.
Storm also hits Bay Area
A powerful “atmospheric river” storm delivered its first punch in the Bay Area overnight Tuesday with heavy rains and strong winds, and in about 12 hours delivered more than 2.5 inches of rain to some locations north of the Golden Gate.
The brunt of the storm was felt in the North Bay, where 24-hour rainfall totals ranged from 2 to 3 inches through Wednesday at 10:40 a.m., according to the National Weather Service. San Francisco and several East Bay cities received about 1.5 inches of rain, and the South Bay much less. (San Jose received just .22 inches in the same time frame.)
A second round of downpours are expected late Wednesday evening when another surge of moisture moves onshore, according to the weather service. That round of heavy rain is also expected to be centered over the North Bay.
Roger Gass, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said this storm is a “typical” atmospheric river setup, where cities in the South Bay “see significantly less rainfall” than the North Bay and coastal mountains.
“That’s exactly what we’re seeing right now,” Gass said late Wednesday morning. “We are expecting another significant push of rain, focused on the North Bay, late this evening into the overnight hours. San Jose and South Bay may not see a whole lot through that event as well.”
At 10:30 a.m., Gass said “another decent band of rainfall was approaching San Francisco and points north.” Gass said cities in Santa Clara Valley may see increase in rain through the late morning and early afternoon.
In the Bay Area, 24-hour rainfall totals around the Bay Area through 12:35 p.m. include Santa Rosa 3.12 inches, Richmond 2.26 inches, San Francisco 2.23 inches, Napa 1.54 inches, Concord 1.43 inches, Oakland 1.39 inches and San Jose .24 inches, according to the weather service.
As often happens with big storms, the wettest location so far in the Bay Area is the rural community of Venado in Sonoma County with 5.56 inches of rain so far. Locations in the Santa Cruz mountains recorded more than 2 inches of rain.
At 5 a.m. Wednesday, the weather service issued an urban and small stream flood advisory for Sonoma County, warning that heavy rain may cause minor flooding in the area. At 7:45 a.m., the weather service reported that stream gauges across Sonoma County are rapidly rising.
Just before 1 p.m., the weather service issued an urban/small stream for Santa Cruz County and areas of Santa Clara and San Mateo counties through 1:30 p.m.
An Urban/Small Stream Flood Advisory has been issued for Santa Cruz County, as well as parts of Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties, through 4:30 pm PST. This includes the City of Santa Cruz. #CAwx pic.twitter.com/1Gg7qOiOB0
— NWS Bay Area 🌉 (@NWSBayArea) February 13, 2019
The Oakland Zoo announced it will be closed Wednesday because of inclement weather.
There were also strong wind gusts overnight Tuesday, with one of the strongest measured on Mt. Saint Helena at 75 mph, according to the weather service. In Menlo Park, a tree reportedly fell into a home overnight, according to KTVU2.
Wednesday morning, the California Highway Patrol’s traffic incident page was filled with dozens of reports of traffic collisions and roadway flooding.
At San Francisco International Airport, 86 flight cancellations and 105 delays were reported Wednesday as of 8:30 a.m.
In San Jose, a large tree fell across Hillsdale Avenue at Gardendale Drive, near Almaden Expressway, according to police. At 9 a.m., officers were at the scene conducting traffic control. No injuries were reported.
In west San Jose and Campbell, 1,836 PG&E customers are without power following an outage first reported at 5:31 a.m. So far it appears to be the largest outage in the Bay Area.
Tuesday, meteorologists with the weather service in Monterey warned about “rapid and large rises” on many of the Bay Area’s rivers and creeks. Soils saturated from a string of storms over the past six weeks will result in “prolific runoff” across the region, according to the weather service. In terms of possible flooding, many of those rivers may not reach their peak levels until Thursday.
The weather service noted that rivers including the Russian, San Lorenzo, Pajaro, Carmel and Big Sur will see rapid rises over the next 24 to 48 hours.
Waters on the Russian River at Guerneville are forecast to rise to moderate flood stage levels by Friday, according to the National Weather Service. The river, which measured Wednesday morning at about 10 feet, is projected to reach 38.8 feet, above the minor flood stage of 32 feet.
Late Tuesday, satellite images showed massive plumes of moisture over the Pacific taking aim at Northern California, and the weather service said coastal hills and mountains in the Bay Area “will see prolific rain totals” likely exceeding 8 inches by the end of the storm.
Many other rivers and creeks are currently forecast to approach flood stage but remain below flood levels.
“Everything is going to runoff into smaller tributaries, creeks and streams,” Ryan Walbrun, a meteorologist with the weather service, said Tuesday.
Monday afternoon, the weather service issued a flash flood watch for the entire Bay Area, warning that conditions may develop that lead to flash flooding.
Fears of mudslides prompted Caltrans on Monday to close sections of Highway 1, south of Big Sur, in both directions starting at 5 p.m. Tuesday. The closures are at Mud Creek, near Ragged Point, the scene of a massive landslide in May 2017 in which millions of tons of earth buried the road 9 miles north of the Monterey-San Luis Obispo county line. The second closure is at Paul’s Slide, about 13 miles north of Mud Creek near Lucia.
Tuesday, Santa Clara County issued a road closure alert for Hicks Road between Pheasant and Alamitos roads because of landslide. The road may remain closed until next week because of rain.
In San Francisco, the Great Highway is partially closed southbound from Lincoln Way to Sloat Boulevard because of storm-related issues, according to ABC7.
In the Sierra Nevada, heavy, wet snow is expected from 7,000 to 8,000 feet, with heavy rain coupled with periods of snow below 7,000 feet, according to the weather service in Reno. The “dry, cold snowpack will hold a lot of new water before runoff occurs,” according to the weather service, which should minimize concerns about major flooding. Still, urban and small stream flooding is expected.
Once the atmospheric river clears through the region, more rain is expected through Saturday, Walbrun said.
“It’s going to be a rainy three or four days,” Walbrun said.
The extremely wet start to 2019 in Northern California has allowed most cities to overcome early-season rainfall deficits. Through Monday, most cities were at or near their historical averages for this time of year, including San Francisco (13.72 inches, 90 percent of average), Oakland (10.84 inches or 85 percent), and San Jose (9.27 inches, 98 percent.)
On Wednesday, the Sierra Nevada snowpack measured 129 percent of historical average for this time of year. That number will likely jump with a series of storms forecast to impact the Sierra Nevada through the weekend.
Staff writers Rick Hurd and Harry Harris contributed to this report. Check back throughout the day Wednesday for updates to this story.
