A storm powered by a powerful atmospheric river and exacerbated by a bomb cyclone off the Pacific Northwest coast was affecting the Bay Area and Northern California. There were several power disruptions in the area as a result of the storm’s devastating winds and heavy rainfall.
The North Bay and the northeastern part of the state were predicted to see the most of the effects. For northern and central Sonoma County, which includes the Sonoma coastal ranges, the 101 corridor, which includes the city of Santa Rosa, and the Mayacamas, the National Weather Service issued a flood advisory on Wednesday. The NWS reported that the advisory extended from Cloverdale to below Santa Rosa until 10 p.m., after initially being restricted to the central Sonoma County districts around Cazadero and Guerneville until 1:30 p.m.
KPIX First Alert Weather: Local weather conditions, warnings, and maps
In other news, Marin, Napa, and Sonoma counties are under flood watch through 4 a.m. on Saturday, with 5 to 12 inches of rain predicted. Through early Thursday, a wind advisory was in effect for the North Bay, San Francisco Bayshore, and Pacific coast, warning of gusts of up to 45 to 50 mph.
Additionally, the Weather Service warned that breaking waves of 14 to 22 feet were probable, thus a high surf alert was in effect from Wednesday morning through Friday morning.
A “major event” for the North Bay
The North Bay will receive the most rain, and localized flooding is expected to occur in low-lying areas.
“Here’s what we know, this will be a major event for the North Bay,” the Weather Service stated during its prediction discussion for the San Francisco area on Wednesday. “By the end of the weekend, Santa Rosa has a 90% chance of recording more than 5″ and a 10% chance of exceeding 12”. 3.25 is the average for the whole month of November.
While the storm’s effects will diminish further south, the storm is predicted to be particularly dangerous north of the Bay Area.A number of storm and flood watches, warnings, and advisories have been issued throughout Northern California and all the way to the Oregon border by the Weather Service’s Eureka office. In the meantime, counties in the northern Sierra Nevada are under a winter storm warning.
The Sonoma County Office of Education decided to close Ross, Kashia, Montgomery, and Monte Rio Union primary schools for the day due to the weather. Montgomery, Monte Rio, and Fort Ross will also be closed on Thursday. The county office of education’s website has an updated list of closures.
Power outages across region
According to the utility’s power outage map, thousands of customers of Northern California Pacific Gas and Electric were without power at the start of the day. Sonoma and Marin counties in the North Bay experienced the majority of the outages. Thousands more were without power farther north in Humboldt County and the Eureka area, where the storm was worst.
While more significant outages were recorded in Tiburon, Larkspur, Corte Madera, Novato, Piedmont, Pacifica, and Mountain View, the majority of the North Bay outages had been fixed by Wednesday at noon. Data from the PG&E outage map showed scattered outages around the Bay Area.
According to PG&E, its personnel have been getting ready for disruptions brought on by the strong gusts that are predicted to blow through the area.
“With the high winds, we can expect tree branches to break off and contact power lines or tree lines to fall into power lines and cause power outages,” said Paul Moreno, a spokesman for PG& “We’ve been making sure that we have staffing available and resources such as materials and poles and wires available to meet this challenge.”
What is an atmospheric river? And what is a bomb cyclone?
At the same time that a polar air mass is colliding with a tropical air mass in the Pacific, a lengthy band of heavy moisture from the tropics is rushing into Northern California as an atmospheric river. The storm became stronger and its winds increased as a result of the two air masses’ rapid decrease in atmospheric pressure, which produced a bomb cyclogenesis, or abomb cyclone.
Strong ARs can carry water vapor that is approximately 7.5 to 15 times the normal flow of the Mississippi River, and atmospheric rivers have the capacity to create significant amounts of rain and snow.When the atmospheric river and bomb cyclone coincide, a major weather event is expected.
When will the storm end?
The Weather Service said there may be a slight lull in the storm Thursday ahead of another intensified cyclone on Friday, pushing another round of heavier rain across the region. The rain will be accompanied by a cold air mass and increased instability, shifting from steady rainfall to showers and potential thunderstorms late Friday through Saturday.
Will there be flooding in Northern California?
While the heaviest rain will be over by the weekend, the chance for additional light rain will continue through Wednesday. The Weather Service said that since it is still early in the water year, the largest rivers still have a lot of capacity and are not expected to flood. However, flooding of smaller creeks and streams, as well as urban and roadway flooding, are all expected and can bring significant impacts.
Flight disruptions at San Francisco International
The heavy rain, wind and limited visibility led to dozens of flight cancellations at San Francisco International Airport Wednesday. Airport spokesperson Doug Yakel said 252 flights at SFO experienced a delay while 48 flights were as of 11:30 a.m., citing data from FlightAware.
Yakel said the delays represented about 23% of all SFO flights while the cancellations were 4% of Wednesday flights. Delays at SFO were averaging 30 minutes, Yakel said.
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