Wet weather that made its way through the Bay Area on Friday was clearing out of the region by the late afternoon hours but will be followed by more rain this weekend and next week, according to the National Weather Service.
Meteorologists noted at times heavy downpours and wind gusts of up to 55 to 65 mph in some higher elevations Friday, and said the storm resulted in downed trees, isolated power outages and minor flooding.
The weather service has also issued a High Surf Warning for Pacific Coast beaches along the Central Coast and Bay Area because of dangerous large breaking waves that could be 25 to 35 feet or higher. That warning is in effect from 6 p.m. Friday through 4 a.m. Sunday.
Forecasts said Saturday will be mostly dry around the Bay Area, but that a second storm is forecast to move through the region on Sunday with rainfall amounts expected to be similar to Friday’s. A third storm is also likely in the middle of next week.
Surface ocean temperatures along California are rising to record numbers amid this winter’s El Niño warming pattern in the tropical eastern Pacific Ocean and could fuel more extreme weather.
Scientists measuring the waters near the Farallon Islands off the coast of San Francisco found the temperature had reached around 66 degrees in the last few days, about 10 degrees higher than normal, said Daniel Swain, a scientist in the California Institute for Water Resources within University of California’s Agriculture and Natural Resources division, in a webinar Thursday.
