STORM ARRIVES
A storm billed as the biggest rain dump of the season drove toward Marin County on Tuesday, bearing heavy rain, strong winds and potential for power outages and flash flooding.
The National Weather Service forecast that the “atmospheric river” would could drop buckets of water through Wednesday. The winds were expected to blow between 20 and 45 mph with gusts pushing over 60 mph into Wednesday.
Pacific Gas and Electric Co. warned that wind-toppled trees and utility lines could cause power outages throughout its service area.
Approximately 3 to 4 inches of rain is expected to fall over Marin, with Mount Tamalpais and other peaks likely to receive up to 6 inches, said Brayden Murdock, meteorologist for the weather service.
“We’re going to be monitoring the tides and creeks in conjunction with the precipitation to watch for flooding,” Southern Marin fire Battalion Chief Matt Bouchard said. “Our primary concern is trees falling into structures, power lines coming down, and our area is prone to mudslides and debris flow.”
However, because it’s been a fairly dry winter so far, the soils aren’t saturated to the point that would signal concern for mudslides, he said.
The potentially fierce conditions prompted weather officials to call for a flash flood watch through Thursday afternoon.
“The storm can almost double the rainfall that we’ve seen since Oct. 1,” Murdock said, referring to the first day of the water year. “Even though the North Bay won’t receive the highest totals, there could be localized flooding.”
So far this water year, Marin County has received 7.54 inches of rain, according to a weather station in Kentfield. Due to a system error, historic data for annual rainfall averages was not available Tuesday, Murdock said.
The storm, which is descending from the northwest, is the third system to move through the region since last Friday and it is set to do the most damage, according to forecasters. San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose could see 3 inches or more of rain Wednesday, the Santa Cruz Mountains 6 to 8 inches, and Big Sur up to 14 inches, with the possibility of 20 inches or more in some Big Sur areas if the storm stalls.
On Monday, about 5,000 residents in Santa Cruz County — in the areas of Redwood Grove, Boulder Creek, Brookdale, Ben Lomond, Felton and Davenport — were ordered to evacuate because of the risk of debris and flooding from the burn scar areas.
Marin County’s Urban Search and Rescue regional
task force sent 30 firefighters and public works staffers to support first responders positioned in burn-scarred mudslide areas, Marin County fire Battalion Chief Todd Overshiner said. That team includes members of the Southern Marin, Novato, Central Marin, Kentfield, Marin County and Sonoma County fire agencies, as well as Marin County public works staffers.
Overshiner said fire departments in Marin have supplied sandbags to residents who need to reinforce their homes defense against flooding. Fire stations in West Marin are staffed with seasonal crews to help respond to any damage overnight, he said.
“I think we’ll get an increase in calls related to trees down, wires down and mild flooding,” he said. “We
don’t expect anything significant but there is always potential for more.”
The storm also was expected to bring massive amounts of snow to the Sierra Nevada — up to 100 inches of new snow — in some areas between Yosemite and Lake Tahoe on Wednesday and Thursday. The National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning for the Sierra and Sacramento Valley, saying that low-lying areas up to the Oregon border also are expected to receive snowfall. Redding was forecast to receive 18 inches of snow.
Marin authorities encourage residents to sign up for emergency alerts at alertmarin.org.