Break in rain arrives before wet weekend

A rainy Monday and Tuesday are forecast to give way to a sunny — albeit chilly — second half of the week.

Over an inch of rain fell on parts of Marin County in the 24-hour period leading up to 3 p.m. Tuesday — 0.31 inches on Big Rock Ridge, 0.36 inches on Dillon Beach, 0.47 inches in Point Reyes Station, 0.55 inches in Mill Valley, 0.83 inches in Woodacre, 1.10 inches on the middle peak of Mount Tamalpais and 1.06 inches in Kentfield, according to the NWS.

Standing water had begun to pool on Highway 101 in Larkspur, according to the California Highway Patrol. It also reported a mudslide and pole down on Paradise Drive in Tiburon.

The Pacific Gas and Electric Co. restored thousands of customers' power between Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning. There were 3,449 meters without power Monday, down to just 34 Tuesday afternoon, according to the utility's outage map.

Tuesday evening had more rain in the forecast, as well as some snow at higher elevations around Northern California, but today was forecast to be sunny, according to the NWS. There might be some frost overnight tonight, but another sunny day Thursday was forecast to burn it off before the commute gets going in earnest.

Even though Friday should be another sunny day, the NWS predicted the rain would return over the weekend, along with chilly low temperatures at night.

The Marin Municipal Water District's reservoirs were all nearly full by Monday, with 79,550 acre-feet — or 99.98% of the system's capacity — on hand, according to the district's website.

By comparison, the system's reservoirs were only at 93.77% capacity at this time last year and, on average, are typically at 88.10% capacity at this time of the year.

The North Marin Water District's Stafford Lake Reservoir was at 100% capacity Tuesday, according to the district's website.

In the Sierra Nevada, the California Highway Patrol said the conditions for driving in the area were “extremely dangerous.”

Authorities shut down Highway 50 from Pollock Pines to Meyers near Echo Summit in El Dorado County because of the snowy and icy roads.

Blizzard conditions kept Interstate 80 closed eastbound in Placer County, and westbound at the Nevada state line. Both were expected to remain closed into today.

The entire region was under a blizzard warning until 4 a.m. today, with several feet of snow forecast Tuesday and Tuesday night.