Rain in Bay Area expected to lighten up briefly
`Conveyor belt' of storm systems from Gulf of Alaska likely to deliver another one after three-day break
The now-routine sound of rain and wind greeted Lynn DeMattei as she walked out into the extra cold Bay Area air that also has settled in over the past week.
“Personally,” the Clayton resident said, “I love the rain.”
That said, not so much when it keeps her work entirely indoors. DeMattei is a teacher in Contra Costa County for students who have special needs. All of this rain may be great for many things, but teachers and students stuck indoors in the rain often are a difficult mix.
“It taps into the things that stresses them out,” she said. “And staying inside the classroom stresses them out, too. So we do try to walk a lot of hallways. We try to be quiet enough that we're not disturbing anyone else.”
Nature didn't seem to give much thought to the disruptions it continued to cause Tuesday. In the Sierra Nevada, blizzard conditions kept Interstate 80 closed eastbound in Placer County, and westbound at the Nevada state line. Both were expected to remain closed into Wednesday.
The California Highway Patrol said the conditions for driving conditions in the area were “extremely dangerous” and authorities shut down Highway 50 from Pollock Pines to Meyers near Echo Summit in El Dorado County because of the snowy and icy roads.
The blizzard also closed Palisades Tahoe and the Kirkwood Ski Resort, the latter of which said on social media Tuesday morning that it went over 500 inches of snow for the ski season, including more than 30 in the previous 24-hour period. Kirkwood officials called the snow an “insane amount.”
In the Bay Area, pockets of rain from another storm cell off the Alaskan Gulf jet stream produced a flood advisory for San Jose, Santa Cruz and Salinas and portions of the Monterey Peninsula. The showers were equally heavy in the East Bay early Tuesday and were blamed for a crash on Interstate 80 near El Sobrante involving a big rig and a compact car. Two children in the compact car emerged OK, according to the California Highway Patrol.
All of it meant continued power outages for about 4,370
Pacific Gas & Electric customers at 11 a.m. Tuesday morning. Of those, about 3,140 were in the South Bay.
At noon Tuesday, the 24-hour rainfall totals showed near 1½ inches in Ben Lomond in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Kentfield in Marin County had received an inch. The Oakland International Airport recorded about a half-inch and San Francisco International Airport about fourtenths of an inch. Concord received a half-inch and San Jose about three-tenths of an inch.
Those totals weren't likely to rise much in the ensuing 24 hours, according to the National Weather Service. Tuesday's storm cell was expected to continue to blow south, clearing the way for what are expected to be three days — albeit cold ones — without rain, including one with clear blue sky Wednesday.
Temperatures will remain in the 30s and low 40s throughout the region early Wednesday and forecasters said they will not rise into the 60s at any point this week.
By Saturday, another storm sent by the same Alaskan Gulf jet stream will deliver more rain in the lower elevations and likely snow in the upper ones, NWS meteorologist Brayden Murdock said.
“It's like a conveyor built, and we're on this conveyor belt of (storm) systems coming in,” he said. “We're not seeing anything moving through the gears of the conveyor belt to upset it. As we get to spring and then summer, that conveyor belt will be focused more north, but right now, it's pointed right at us.”
The rainfall Tuesday mirrored the 24-hour rainfall totals showing the precipitation from Monday's showers. San Jose, San Francisco and Walnut Creek each received about one-half of an inch of rain, while Oakland saw just more than one-third of an inch. The peaks of the Santa Cruz Mountains saw well over one inch of rain over that 24-hour period.
In other words, more of the same. And more to come.
“I don't remember it ever being this intense for this long,” DeMattei said.