Warm, dry weather set to return after storm
San Francisco, East Bay, North Bay get moisture
Sunny skies and increasingly warm, dry weather are expected to move into Northern California this week after an early June storm dropped some muchneeded rain over parts of the Bay Area, wetting the region's soils and briefly easing fire conditions in several North Bay and East Bay communities.
A ridge of high pressure is expected to build over the Bay Area over the next several days, once more drying out the region and pushing temperatures into the 80s and 90s over much of the region by Friday and Saturday. The sunny forecast comes after a storm moved ashore Saturday night that brought a steady, light rain to much of the North Bay, the Peninsula and the East Bay — serving as a welcome salve for the drought-ridden landscape.
San Francisco set a precipitation record for June 5, with .23 inches of rain falling in the city. It broke the previous record of .15 for that day, which was set in 1934.
Most of the precipitation fell over the North Bay, where .67 inches were measured in Tiburon and .91 inches fell in Mill Valley, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. By far the heaviest rains were reported over Mt. Tamalpais, which received 2.8 inches of rain by about 2:30 p.m. Sunday.
Several places in East Oakland received about one-third of an inch of rain, while two locations in the Oakland Hills received .65 inches of rain.
The moisture came as fire crews managed to fully contain the Old Fire, which sparked on Tuesday in Napa County and grew to 570 acres. No structures were destroyed in the blaze, which may have been caused by a downed Pacific Gas & Electric electrical line.
“We're pleased with how it's progressing and bringing a little bit of June rain into the Bay Area,” said Ryan Walburn, a National Weather Service meteorologist, on Sunday morning. “By June standards, it's definitely been a nice little rainstorm.”
Similar June storms
aren't uncommon for the Bay Area, with the much of the region typically receiving at least a tenth of an inch of rain this month.
Yet the storm didn't extend across the entire region. Rather, it largely steered clear of the South Bay, as San Jose recorded only one-hundredth of an inch of precipitation from
the storm. Most inland sections of Contra Costa County also only received a few hundredths of an inch of rain.
Other areas that did get rain can only expect the threat of fire to ease for a few days — perhaps a week — amid the ongoing historic drought that's left much of Northern California
parched and tinder-dry.
Nearly all of California — 98% of the state — is a severe drought, and about 60% of the state is experiencing extreme drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. Snowpack readings in the Sierra Nevada also are downright paltry, measuring at only 4% of normal for this time of year, according to the California Department of Water Resources.
This past weekend's storm “gives us a couple days of reprieve,” Walburn said. “But it'll be old news pretty much a week from now.”
Parts of the East Bay, including Oakland, should see temperatures rise into the high 70s by the middle of the week and into the 80s by Friday and the weekend, according to the National Weather Service. San Jose could see temperatures rise into the low 90s by week's end, while inland areas of Contra Costa County could see temperatures swell into the high 90s by Friday and Saturday.
For areas that didn't get much rain — specifically Santa Clara and the eastern portion of Contra Costa County — that could mean a quick return of fire-ripe conditions in the coming days.
“The heat that we get by the end of this week is just going to continue to make that (vegetation) drier, so if anybody does spark something, that means you're going to have a lot of dry fuels that are going to catch fire,” said Brooke Bingaman, a National Weather Service meteorologist.