The Bay Area’s cold, rainy, windy weather is going to calm down briefly for the next couple of days before possibly transitioning into more storms heading into next week, according to the National Weather Service.
A cold weather advisory remains in effect through Saturday 9 a.m. in interior valleys from Santa Clara County to the North Bay, with temperatures as low as 33 degrees forecast. Overnight temperatures in Piedmont on Friday are expected to drop to 41 degrees. Saturday is expected to be dry and somewhat sunny, according to the weather service.
A gale warning remains in effect for coastal regions through 1 p.m. Saturday. Stronger winds are expected to pick up from 1 p.m. Saturday through 4 p.m. Sunday, prompting a storm warning from the weather service.
Rain totals across the region midweek ranged from about a half an inch to nearly 2 inches. Oakland topped out at about three-quarters of an inch. Contrary to the typical pattern, most North Bay locations clocked in at only about a half inch, according to weather service meteorologist Rachel Kennedy.
While the total rain volume wasn’t alarming, several areas were dealing with power outages Thursday morning, with PG&E reporting nearly 24,000 customers in the region with service disruptions at 8:30 a.m. Roughly half of those affected had power restored about two hours later, according to PG&E.
Along with the rain came frosty temperatures and a light dusting of snow at higher-elevation places like Mt. Diablo, Mt. Saint Helena, the Santa Cruz Mountains and the eastern Santa Clara Hills.
An unsettled pattern will move in late Saturday and Sunday with rain chances lingering for much of next week, Kennedy said.
“This is a typical storm for us; the most unusual part of it is the low temperatures,” she said.