North Bay flood concerns remain as rain returns through weekend; high surf continues
Another round of rain was drenching the region Friday and continuing over the weekend, with the North Bay feeling the brunt of the rainfall and its impacts.
The National Weather Service said a flood warning was issued for a portion of Sonoma County that includes Cotati, Forestville, Sebastopol and Windsor, replacing a flood advisory issued earlier. At 2:27 a.m. Friday, the Colgan Creek near Sebastopol was in moderate flood stage after between 1 and 2 inches of rain fell. Additional rainfall was possible in the area.
The flood warning was in effect until 2:30 p.m. Friday.
Further north, a flood warning has been issued for the Russian River near Hopland in Mendocino County, where minor flooding is forecast. The warning was in effect through Friday afternoon.
Flood advisories for parts of Marin, Napa and Sonoma counties expired early Friday morning.
Rainfall totals through Saturday morning are forecast to be 1-1.5 inches for the North Bay Valleys and 1.5 to 3 inches for the North Bay mountains, forecasters said.
The Peninsula and the East Bay can expect a half-inch to 1 inch of rain. South Bay valleys are forecast for a quarter- to a half-inch, and South Bay mountains, a half-inch to 1.5 inches.
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High surf advisory for Northern California coast
Conditions along the coast remained a concern following deadly high surf and damaging waves earlier this week. The National Weather Service issued another high surf advisory from 10 a.m. Thursday to 4 p.m. Sunday, urging wave watchers to keep a safe distance and inexperienced swimmers to stay out of the water.
"While these waves are smaller than the monsters we got on Monday, the coast is still dangerous," the Weather Service said in its forecast discussion for the San Francisco Bay Area. "Let's get through this weekend without another ocean fatality."
Earlier this week the conditions along the coast appeared to be a factor in possibly three deaths on the Santa Cruz County and Monterey County coastlines. The high surf also destroyed a portion of the Santa Cruz Wharf on Monday.
Bay Area rain forecast through the weekend
]Most of the rain will be concentrated across the North Bay, where the continued rainfall on the already-saturated soils would increase the chances of minor flooding and small landslides, the Weather Service said. Based on current forecasts, the North Bay could receive 1 to 3 inches of rain by the weekend and up to 5 inches in higher elevations.
The rest of the Bay Area will see the most impactful rain Thursday night into Friday, with coastal ranges and the San Francisco-Oakland-Richmond region seeing more consistent rainfall, the Weather Service said. Rainfall totals of 1 to 2 inches were expected in the Santa Cruz Mountains, 0.5 to 1.5 inches for the Bay Area and 0.25 to 0.75 in the Monterey Bay region.
A potential lull in the storm series could come early next week, forecasters said. Longer-term guidance shows a slight lean to above-average temperatures and below-average rainfall for the first week of the New Year.
