San Francisco Bay Area weather: Several parks close, North Bay braces for outages, flooding
Several days of rain are in store for the Bay Area and precipitation had begun falling lightly on Saturday morning in some places.
Moderate to heavy rain was expected in the evening, though it will taper off to scattered showers later at night. The next wet period will be stronger and hit the region on Sunday afternoon.
A wind advisory was put in place until 1 p.m. on Saturday. There is also a high surf advisory in effect until Sunday. Some beaches may see waves of 22–28 feet.
Stay updated about the storm this weekend by watching KTVU's digital live stream, featuring weather updates from meteorologists, storm radar and cameras with views of the conditions around the Bay Area.
Although Sunday will start off mainly dry, the rain will be more intense when it falls in earnest in the afternoon, leading the National Weather Service to issue a flood watch for the Bay Area from Sunday morning to Wednesday morning. Click here to see more details about the NWS alerts.
Two to five inches of rain could fall over the next few days in the urban areas, while hilly communities will likely receive more.
The temperatures will be relatively mild, from the 50s to the 60s.
In the Sierra Nevada range, there is a winter weather advisory on Saturday that will be elevated to a winter storm warning from Sunday until Wednesday as several feet of snow is expected to fall.
Some notable South Bay locations are closed due to the weather, including Devil's Slide Trail, QWuarry Park, Fitzgerald Marine Reserve, and San Pedro Valley, Mirada Surf and Moss Beach Park.
The parks will remain closed until conditions are deemed safe.
In the North Bay, the Point Reyes National Seashore's Lighthouse, Lighthouse Visitor Center, Drakes Beach Road, Limantour and Mt. Vision Roads will close from 7 p.m. Saturday through Sunday.
Officials may reopen the areas on Monday if conditions are safe.
The North Bay is once again bracing for the potential for downed trees, power outages and possible flooding. A new storm system is expected to bring wind and rain, at times heavy rain, to the region over the next few days.
In downtown Santa Rosa, Saturday's light rain and wind caused a large tree to uproot in a restaurant parking lot.
"I normally park where that stump is," said Avery Stark, who works at The Bird and The Bottle.
Stark's general manager was less lucky. Her brand-new car was among two damaged when the tree came down. Fortunately, no one was inside either at the time.
"She went home, yeah she’s pretty bummed, shaken up," said Stark. "The roots must have just been ready to go."
"Those winds earlier in the month likely weakened a lot of trees," said Santa Rosa fire marshal Paul Lowenthal. "This [storm] is just going to continue to saturate it, and it won’t take much."
Earlier this month, an atmospheric river system toppled trees onto 14 homes in the city. On Feb. 4, the storm-related call volume at the Santa Rosa Fire Department was three times as busy as a normal day.
"Even though the winds are not expected to be as strong as they were in early February, any gusty winds could likely bring down additional trees," said Lowenthal.
Lowenthal said he was also eyeing the potential for flooding.
"We’re one of three swift water rescue teams that have been staffed here in Sonoma County," said Lowenthal.
The potential for flooding and landslides also prompted a pre-emptive shutdown of several North Bay roadways, including Bolinas Road in West Marin, from Azalea Hill to Highway 1.