Will weekend rain stretch into Monday?
It’s predicted to be wet through themiddle of next week, though not on Halloween
A woman walks around Lake Merritt as rain falls in Oakland on Thursday. Showers are expected to continue through the weekend, according to the National Weather Service. The big question is, will trick-or-treaters stay dry for Halloween on Monday?
The storm systemis expected to soak the entire region, from Santa Rosa to the Monterey Bay and Oakland to San Francisco.
Wet weather is in store for the Bay Area through the middle of next week, but Halloween should be dry for trick-or-treaters, according to the National Weather Service.
Rain began falling Thursday, but the first of several rounds wasn’t expected to make its presence truly known until Friday morning. As of about 5 p.m. Thursday, San Jose had recorded 0.03 inches, Oakland
0.04 inches and San Francisco no measurable rainfall.
The system advancing from south to north toward the West Coast is drawing some moisture from Hurricane Seymour, located in the Pacific Ocean south of the southern tip of Baja California.
Unlike the system Monday, which dropped rain primarily north of the Golden Gate, this system is expected to soak the entire region, from Santa Rosa to the Monterey Bay and Oakland to San Francisco.
The weather service is predicting rainfall totals ranging from a half-inch to 1.5 inches throughout the Bay Area, including San Jose, which so far this month has been one of the region’s driest locations.
Some of the heaviest rains are expected in coastal Monterey County, and a flash flood warning is in effect for the burn area from the Soberanes fire, which torched more than 132,000 acres. The weather service is warning that rainfall rates in excess of a half-inch per hour are possible in that area, and these heavy downpours could result in debris flows and flash flooding.
The system that trickled into the Bay Area on Monday delivered in the North Bay, producing 1.75 inches in Santa Rosa. But San Francisco received only 0.03 inches, and San Jose officially recorded no rainfall.
Still, it has rained enough in October for several cities in the Bay Area to surpass their monthly average. So far this month, San Francisco has received 1.25 inches (0.98 monthly average), Oakland 1.67 inches (1.24 monthly average) and San Jose 0.35 inches (0.67 monthly average).
The weather service is tracking another system coming down this weekend from the Gulf of Alaska, a “classic winter storm” that could deliver periods of heavy rain Sunday, said meteorologist Steve Anderson.
Unsettled weather with periods of rain is projected through Wednesday, but trick-or-treaters more than likely won’t need umbrellas Monday night, Anderson said.
“It’s a great jump-start to the rain season,” Anderson said. “The water year began on Oct. 1, and it started raining after that. The hope is we can keep the momentum going through the winter.”