Pause Before More Storms

Severe West Coast Weather Flooded Homes, River; More Pounding In Store

(CBS/AP)  After two days of heavy rain, which brought evacuations, scattered power outages and flooded roads and parks, Californians are able to take a dry breath as the rain lets up temporarily. But in the midst of a week-long spurt of harsh weather up and down the West Coast, the rain won't pause long.

Residents in Northern California are bracing for additional flooding as more Pacific storms move their way. The storms are expected to begin Friday and continue through the New Year's weekend.

In the heart of Sonoma County wine country, residents and visitors alike are surprised by what they've seen. Mary Stuart, who co-owns Vintage Towers Bed and Breakfast in Cloverdale, says tourists are seeing "entire vineyards underwater." And she says it's the first time she's ever heard reports of water up to the top of the grapevines.

The first in what is expected to be a series of drenching winter storms prompted flood warnings and swelled Northern California rivers to their highest levels in seven years.

It's a mess that may have turned deadly. The NTSB is investigating what role the rain and snow played in a lear jet crash not far from Tahoe, Calif., reports CBS News correspondent Sandra Hughes. The pilot and passenger died on impact.

In the San Francisco Bay area, the National Weather Service says as much as six inches of rain could fall on some areas of the North Bay between early tomorrow and Saturday morning.

Clean up also was under way after the latest in a series of storms dumped up to a foot of snow in the mountains of Washington state, reports Hughes. To the south, in Oregon, it was rain that was making the mess.

In Nevada, the first of a series of storms headed for the Sierra and northern Nevada fell a little short of predictions, but still blasted the area with wind, soaked the western valleys and brought out road controls in the Sierra.

After the rain changed to snow, 10 inches accumulated at the Mount Rose-Ski Tahoe resort. Alpine Meadows Ski Resort reported 24-34 inches of new snow since Christmas Day.

Warnings went into effect across the northern half of California after the first storm swept through Tuesday and Wednesday.

"The ground is going to be so saturated that any additional heavy rain on Friday and Friday night will allow those rivers to quickly rise and we could easily see additional flooding problems," National Weather Service forecaster Dwayne Dykeman told KCBS Radio.

Steady downpours and rising rivers led to an evacuation, scattered power outages, and flooded roads and parks. After rivers in Northern California already swelled to their highest levels in seven years, preparations are underway along the already flooding Russian River for even worse conditions next week, CBS' Bianca Solorzano reports. And to the south, in surf territory, the conditions are anything but safe.

"Better safe than sorry, I'm not going to wait until the last minute," said Monte Rio, Calif., resident Janis Hug.