Area struggles to channel water; deluge due to taper
A flurry of storms that swelled creeks, flooded homes, shut down major highways, blanketed cities in hail, and effectively ended the drought in the region finally appears to be dissipating and will soon be a memory for Bay Area residents, forecasters say.
Through the first 22 days of January, cities in the region easily doubled and in many cases tripled their historical rainfall totals for the same period of time, according to the National Weather Service. Livermore, for instance, recorded 8.05 inches, 344 percent of its average total.
The wet weather is expected to be firmly in the rearview mirror this week. But not before a few
“The showers will end by (Tuesday) morning, then things really start drying out.” — Brian Mejia, meteorologist
parting shots on Monday, including hailstorms in San Jose, Oakland and San Francisco.
There were no reports of damage from the hail, said National Weather Service meteorologist Anna Schneider, who described it as pea-sized. However, Steve Bauer, a Berkeleybased State Farm agent, posted a picture to Twitter showing one piece measuring 3 inches across.
“After an amazing rainbow coming to work, got to enjoy a hail storm in Berkeley,” Bauer wrote in the post.
Beginning Tuesday afternoon, residents can expect dry weather for at least the next 10 days.
A cold front coming through Thursday could produce something, but there is no official precipitation in the forecast, said National Weather Service meteorologist Brian Mejia.
“The main system has pushed southeast,” Mejia said. “The showers will end by (Tuesday) morning, then things really start drying out for the rest of the week.”
The coming relief appears to have lightened the spirits of storm-weary freeway workers and officers, with the California Highway Patrol bringing levity to a large sinkhole that materialized on Highway 13 in Oakland. The Ohio-shaped road breakage in the southbound lanes near Broadway Terrace inspired the Oakland field office to name it “Steve.”
On Twitter, the CHP said Steve would be nothing more than “Andy” the asphalt by the Tuesday evening commute.
Since the rainfall season began on Oct. 1, Santa Rosa has recorded 37.37 inches (192 percent of normal), San Francisco 18.46 inches (152 percent), Oakland 15.91 inches (149 percent), San Jose 9.88 inches (134 percent) and Salinas 9.74 inches (168 percent).
BAY AREA RAINFALL TOTALS JAN. 1-22
San percent Jose:of normal5.39 inches,for the 247 year Oakland (airport): 7.35 inches, 223 percent of normal San Francisco: 10.03 inches, 302 percent of normal Peninsula (SFO): 9.01 inches, 300 percent of normal Fremont: 6.65 inches, 297 percent of normal
Concord: 8.37 inches, 330 percent of normal Livermore (airport): 8.05 inches, 344 percent of normal Santa Cruz: 11.29 inches, 246 percent of normal