Latest storm pounds San Francisco Bay Area with fierce winds, heavy rain
SAN FRANCISCO -- For a third consecutive Tuesday, a potent storm packing dangerous gusts of up 45 mph or higher and heavy rainfall plowed into the Bay Area, ready to wreak havoc on the saturated soil and weakened tree roots.
So far this month, Tuesdays have been First Alert Weather days. The storm two weeks ago knocked out power to 300,000 customers in the region. Last week's storm toppled hundreds of trees and claimed five lives.
In the Santa Cruz Mountains, Ralph Ditullio, owner of Nonno's Restaurant in Redwood Estates, wants to parade of stormy Tuesday's to come to an end.
"The last three Mondays have been gorgeous when we're closed. And then I come to work on Tuesday and I have power for a couple of hours and then it shuts down with the new storm coming in," said Ditullio. "So, if you're up there listening [God], could you please reschedule the storms?"
KPIX 5 First Alert Weather: Current Conditions, Forecasts, Alerts For Your Area
While this week's storm was not expected to be as intense as its predecessors, it will still be packing a punch. The National Weather Service has issued a Bay Area-wide wind advisory that will remain in place until at 8 p.m.
"Coastal Sonoma and Marin Counties have been steadily gusting between 45 and 55 mph over the last couple of hours, with maximum wind gusts upwards of 70 mph over the higher terrain," the weather service said at 9:25 a.m. "These winds are now starting to impact the Bay Area proper, with the strongest winds impacting currently over the highest terrain as well."
"However, we are seeing some gusts upwards of 45 mph impact the East Bay communities, including Oakland and Richmond. Given the saturated soils and these winds, trees will fall, and may take down power lines."
Tuesday afternoon, there was one-way traffic control in place on Highway 92 near Spanishtown outside of Half Moon Bay due to flooding. Drivers were advised to expect delays and exercise caution.
San Francisco Fire was warning that at 350 Mission a 30th floor window was cracked by the high winds.
"No glass fell, just cracked and damaged and secured," firefighters tweeted.
There were some SF Muni buses rerouted due to the fire department activity with Mission Street closed between Beale and Fremont.
KPIX meteorologist Mary Lee posted about early confirmed maximum wind gusts Tuesday morning on Twitter, including 67 mph in Los Gatos, 64 mph at Mt. St. Helena and 52 mph at the Oakland Airport.
Flood advisories were also issued for the North and East Bay through late morning or noon due to urban and small stream flooding caused by excessive rainfall and possible flooding on streets and highways. Residents are advised to be aware of their surroundings and to avoid driving into standing water.
Tuesday afternoon, two of the issued advisories were extended. One for a wide area of Contra Costa County stretching from north of Concord to south of Fremont was set to expire at 4 p.m. Another advisory for an interior area of Sonoma County was pushed to 8:30 p.m. There Colgan Creek near Sebastopol and Green Valley Creek at Martinelli Road were at in minor flood stage.
Additionally, Mark West Creek near Mirabel Heights was rising and expected to go into monitor stage later Tuesday afternoon.
In South San Francisco, CHP reported a downed tree was blocking the right and center lanes of southbound I-280 at Avalon Drive shortly before 10:30 a.m. The tree was cleared and all lanes had reopened by around 11:45 a.m.
PG&E said they have thousands of crew members in the field in preparation for Tuesday's storm, with a focus on the South Bay and Peninsula since that was where the most damage was expected.
As of 3 p.m. Tuesday, outage numbers had dropped to 3,792 customers without power from over 6,000, but the location of the outages had changed dramatically. Earlier in the day, outages were concentrated in the East Bay and North Bay.
By afternoon, there were 2,844 without power in San Francisco, largely due to a significant outage in Bernal Heights, while other other areas had dropped down to below 300 customers impacted (299 on the Peninsula, 267 in the North Bay, 297 in the South Bay) with only 85 households without power in the East Bay.
The strong winds will combine with the saturated soils and weakened trees to form a deadly combination. So far this year, falling trees have claimed six lives in the Bay Area and damaged or destroyed dozens of homes and vehicles.
"With an aging older structure that now has a declining root system due to drought and all of a sudden gets pounded with loaded conditions of rain and wind, that overburdens them with all this extra weight on a weakening structure," Remy Hummer of Arborist Now Inc. described the dangerous conditions to KPIX. "That's when you start to see trees topple and fall over."
The windstorm will also bring with it intense downpours. Already on Tuesday morning, the weather issued a short-lived flood advisory for Marin County after "Doppler radar indicted heavy rain."
In the Sierra, the storm will be adding to the epic snow totals that have already fallen. Winter Storm Warnings are in effect for heavy snow and strong winds
"Very heavy snow is forecast for higher elevations of the Coastal Range and Sierra with totals of 1 to 4 feet possible," forecasters warned.
