Marin drenched again, but no serious damage
One more day of rain likely before break from storms
Marin County avoided serious damage Tuesday as yet another storm passed over the county, officials said.
As of about 5 p.m. Tuesday, the storm had delivered 2.01 inches in Fairfax and 1.90 inches on Mount Tamalpais, according to the National Weather Service. Other rain totals included 1.89 inches in Point Reyes Station, 1.38 inches in San Rafael, 0.98 inches in Mill Valley and 0.90 inches in Novato.
More rain is expected today. Thunderstorms are possible, said Sarah McCorkle, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
“The rain isn't over,” she said Tuesday afternoon. “The tail end of the system is right now offshore of Northern California.”
The system could bring an additional half an inch to an inch of rain through Wednesday morning, McCorkle said.
Wind speeds reached 73 mph near Big Rock Ridge, 62 mph near Wolfback Ridge in Sausalito and 49 mph winds in the Marinwood area, McCorkle said. Most wind speeds have been between 25 to 30 mph.
In Novato, geotechnical experts from various agencies monitored the site of a mudslide near Mount Burdell for further erosion Tuesday, said Laine Hendricks, a county spokesperson. The slide last week severely damaged a 100-foot section of Redwood Boulevard near Buck Center Drive.
Hendricks said there was some minor rain runoff at the site, but no damage or additional landslides.
The mudslide threatened two underground Pacific Gas & Electric Co. gas lines and moved power poles and transmission lines. The gas lines at the site serve 93,000 residents.
Denny Boyles, a PG&E spokesperson, said a bypass gas line was installed and tested overnight. It became operational at 3:30 a.m.
Boyles said it was installed to ensure the safe flow of gas during the current storm.
“This is a temporary solution due to the landslide,” Boyles said. “Following the storm and when the area is safe, a permanent replacement will be designed and installed that will avoid the landslide.”
Elsewhere in the county Tuesday, several roads were closed because of the storm, said Battalion Chief Todd Overshiner of the Marin County Fire Department.
On Mount Tamalpais, East Ridgecrest Boulevard and West Ridgecrest Boulevard will be closed into today, Overshiner said. In western Marin, Bear Val
ley Road in the Point Reyes Station area was closed because of flooding, and a fallen fir tree closed lower Conifer Way and Park Street in Woodacre, he said.
California Highway Patrol Officer Darrel Horner reported some spinouts due to wet weather but no crashes with injuries.
McCorkle said the storm might not be the end of rainy season, with more precipitation possible early next week. Dry weather and high temperatures in the mid to upper 50s are forecast from this evening through the weekend, she said.
Meanwhile, after a dozen previous atmospheric rivers and blizzards fueled by arctic air, the water content of California's Sierra Nevada snowpack is more than double normal overall, and nearly triple in the southern Sierra.
Damage since the onslaught began in late December includes buildings crushed by snow, flooding of communities and farm fields and homes threatened by landslides.
Crews on Monday tore down a historic pier in Santa Cruz County that was in danger of collapse. The 500-foot-long wooden pier at Seacliff State Beach was severely damaged by big surf in January. Built in 1930, the pier connected the beach to SS Palo Alto, a grounded World War I-era steamship known as the “cement ship.”
On the positive side, the storms have brought muchneeded water. The state's two largest reservoirs, Shasta and Oroville, have risen above their historical averages to date after being significantly depleted.
Cities and farmers that rely on the Central Valley Project, the federally managed water system, got a big boost in their allocations Tuesday.