Storm brings ‘atypical’ chill
A “powerhouse” storm system, the strongest of the season so far, brought unseasonably chilly temperatures — and excessive moisture — to almost every part of the Bay Area Tuesday, but was expected to give way to milder rain showers Wednesday.
Most Bay Area residents woke up Tuesday to the strong slap of rain slamming on their windows, downed branches, and temperatures between the 40s and 50s, with little hope of warming up for the day, said Rick Canepa, meteorologist for the National Weather Service.
“It’s atypically chilly,” said Canepa. “It’s not a good day to go hiking.”
Up north in the small Sacramento County town of Galt, a tornado touched down and there were reports of debris and damage right by the onramp to Highway 99 by Arno Road, according to the National Weather Service office in Sacramento. This brief spin-up touched down at around 1:40 p.m. Tuesday afternoon and was estimated to have had 70 mph winds at its peak.
Storm impacts could persist in the Bay Area and Central Coast through Wednesday. The Chronicle’s Newsroom Meteorologist Gerry Díaz said some thunderstorms were possible off the coast, but more likely there would just be continued rain showers.
The rain triggered small power outages Tuesday in parts of the Bay Area, but power was restored in most places by early afternoon.
The off-and-on downpours brought in vastly different precipitation totals to different areas of the region, meteorologist Canepa said.
Areas of the Big Sur coast saw up to 5 inches of rain by Tuesday morning. The storm system’s steadiest accumulation of rain began Monday evening and lasted through Tuesday morning, with more lingering showers heading toward dryer conditions by Wednesday afternoon.
Hail and thunderstorms are also a possibility while the showers continue, Canepa said.
By mid-Tuesday morning, the National Weather Service had lifted its wind advisory.
The strongest winds came on Monday morning, with gusts up to 45 mph in parts of the Peninsula and Central Valley, weather officials said. Gusts returned to anywhere from 10 mph to 20 mph in most parts of the Bay Area through the rest of the day, officials said, but they weren’t expected to swell beyond that.
“The worst of the wind has already moved to the east,” Canepa said.
Weather officials also said the formidable rain has had a strong impact on fire season, mitigating danger conditions considerably and essentially ending its peak.
A flash flood watch was still in place for areas with burn scars through 5 p.m. Tuesday throughout Northern California, weather officials said.