The Bay Area will receive a solid dousing this week from the region’s first atmospheric river of the rainy season, according to the National Weather Service.
The windy rainstorm was expected to start as early as Monday night in the far North Bay but is forecast to really pick up late Tuesday night and into Wednesday morning, according to Weather Service meteorologist Roger Gass.
“Overall, we are expecting I would say anywhere from 1½ to 2½ inches in higher elevations in the North Bay and anywhere from one to two inches in Sonoma and Marin and Napa,” Gass said.
The rain totals will be lower as the storm works its way south, with San Francisco expecting a half inch to about an inch and San Jose expecting about a third of an inch.
Gass said the higher elevations in the Santa Cruz Mountains might see anywhere from half an inch to an inch, with some locations getting higher totals if thunderstorms develop in the area.
In addition to rain, high winds and king tides are expected for much of the Bay Area through mid-week.
“We have a wind advisory starting at 10 p.m. (Tuesday), to 4 p.m. Wednesday,” said Gass.
The storm’s gusty southerly winds will generally spike at about 45 mph for most of the region, but there is the potential for winds of about 60 mph in higher elevations like Mount Diablo and Mount Saint Helena, he said.
Also, the Weather Service has issued a flood advisory due to king tides for late Tuesday morning through Saturday afternoon for low-lying areas of the North Bay, East Bay, South Bay and along the coast from Santa Cruz to Monterey.
Regional temperatures are expected to top out in the mid- to low-60s, with a slight warming trend forecast to start Thursday after the storm has passed.
The post Wind, rain and king tides: Bay Area bracing for first atmospheric river storm of season appeared first on Local News Matters.