As weekend storm nears end, minor flooding impacts some Bay Area cities

Minor flooding stretched across the Bay Area, and 48-hour rain totals sat as high as 5 to 6 inches in some mountainous regions as the weekend rainstorm began to reach its tail end.

A rainstorm that reached the region Friday brought heavy rainfall across the Bay Area over the weekend, along with the threat of strong winds and floods. The storm was paired with king tides, which brought ocean levels to higher-than-usual levels due to the moon’s alignment with the earth.

The heaviest parts of the storm were moving out of the Bay Area on Sunday afternoon, with only scattered showers expected through the afternoon and evening, said Rachel Kennedy, a meteorologist with NWS.

“We then have another round of light to moderate rain returning overnight, and then that’ll pass through overnight Monday through about mid- to late afternoon on Monday,” she said. “Then we’ll have some scattered showers persisting Monday night into Tuesday before we dry out.”

The North Bay could see some scattered showers Tuesday into Wednesday, but there is no expected “widespread or heavy” precipitation through the rest of the week, she added.

Over the 48-hours ending just before 2 p.m. Sunday, the highest rain totals were reported in the North Bay and Santa Cruz mountains, Kennedy said. The Santa Cruz mountains saw between 3½ and 5½ inches of rain, while the coastal mountain ranges in the North Bay saw 2 to 3 inches, with some localized areas receiving up to 4 inches.

San Jose, which sits in a rain shadow, received 1.21 inches of rain over 48 hours, Kennedy said. In Oakland, there was about 1.05 inches of precipitation, and in San Francisco, there was 0.73 inches. Concord saw 0.76 inches.

The rainfall has caused widespread reports of minor flooding, primarily with water pooling on roadways, Kennedy said. In the East Bay, flooding impacted Fremont, Union City and Dublin. There were also reports in San Jose, Redwood City and Menlo Park, as well as a number of reports in the Santa Cruz mountains.

“Most of the time, it’s flooding on the roadway, so the water is covering the roadway. A couple of places, especially like in the North Bay, have had roads closed just due to flooding concerns,” Kennedy said.

A coastal flood advisory that was put into place for the San Francisco Bay’s shoreline due to the king tides was also extended until Monday, she said.

“There may still be some lingering coastal flooding impact if you live directly along the San Francisco or San Pablo Bay shoreline,” Kennedy said.

The storm saw its highest wind gusts over Friday night into Saturday, but the wind advisory was canceled earlier than expected after winds dropped off faster than originally forecast, she added. The wind was strongest along the coast and higher elevations.

“When we have that next round of rain (Sunday night) into Monday, it’ll be breezy, but (we’re) not terribly concerned with that level of wind tonight,” Kennedy said.