Get ready: Bay Area faces more stormy weather
OAKLAND, Calif. - Landslides, fallen trees, flooding, and other storm-related issues have wreaked havoc on the Bay Area this winter. Even though the sun was out this weekend, another storm is on the way.
Meteorologists with the National Weather Service expect strong wind gusts that could be similar to what we experienced last Tuesday.
"Even if the winds don’t necessarily materialize over 50 or 60 miles an hour like you saw with the last system, everything is so saturated it won’t take a 50 mile per hour wind gust to knock down a tree or cause power outages," said David King, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service.
A wind advisory has been issued for the coastal areas and high peaks starting late Monday night.
"Now is the time to refresh your go bag," said King. "Make sure you have batteries in case you do need to take precautions, but also plan your day accordingly with the system. It’s going to be impacting Tuesday, hopefully when most people are at work when most people are going to be indoors."
Anywhere from one inch to three inches of rain is expected to fall across the Bay Area on Tuesday, according to KTVU meteorologist Steve Paulson.
The strong rain is likely to impact Tuesday's morning commute.
Relentless rain can be dangerous. It has triggered landslides, like a 250-foot slide in Woodside along State Route 84 at Portola Road.
Southbound lanes of Highway 101 from Novato to Petaluma were closed Saturday night through Sunday afternoon because of a slide that exposed PG&E gas lines. Crews worked overnight to re-route those lines away from the hazard.
Contra Costa County Public Works closed part of Wildcat Canyon Road from San Pablo Dam Road to Inspiration Point where part of the road is crumbling because of soil erosion.
Spokesperson Kelly Kalfsbeek said, "This is something that has been a developing situation over the past couple of weeks due to the recent storms. The soil has been very saturated. So we’ve been monitoring the situation and determined it was necessary to close the road."
The road is closed to all traffic – cars, bikes, and pedestrians. Kalfsbeek said crews are also gearing up for this next round of wind and rain.
"We are going to continue to do prep work we do when we are in between storm which is clearing storm drains, catch basins, roadside ditches, maintaining and monitoring our flood control channels and also making sure our sandbag stations are stocked with all supplies."
Conditions are expected to clear on Wednesday.