The Bay Area is drying out from a damaging weekend storm that lashed the region with powerful winds that toppled trees, downed power lines, and kept first responders busy.
While most cities saw rainfall totals from about 1 inch to 1.5 inches and wind gusts in the 50 mph to 60 mph range, some spots were left reeling from even stronger impacts, according to the National Weather Service.
Coastal areas and ridgetops were buffeted by gusts that typically topped out at about 80 mph while Point Pablo in western Marin County recorded a 102 mph gust, said National Weather Service meteorologist Dalton Behringer.
The winds were so fierce on Sunday that at one point the NWS issued a hurricane-force wind warning for portions of the Central Coast near Monterey and Big Sur — the first time in the state’s history that such a warning has been made. To put that in perspective, a storm can be classified as a Category 1 hurricane when it reaches sustained wind speeds of 74-95 mph.
“The rain from this was impactful, but a bit more so the wind, certainly, because of all the trees down and stuff,” Behringer said Monday.
“We still have two ongoing flood warnings in the North Bay, particularly in Sonoma County, and there are a few elevated rivers and streams up there, but nothing major we’re hearing about,” he said.
“In terms of outage totals, this was one of the top three most damaging, single-day storms on record, only comparable to storms in 1995 and 2008.” Sumeet Singh, PG&E Chief Operating Officer
The largest rainfall totals were recorded in the Santa Cruz Mountains, which were doused with about 4 inches over the past few days, and Monterey County’s Santa Lucia Mountains, where one particularly wet spot received nearly 9 inches of rain.
The storm knocked trees into roadways, toppled power lines and at one point left more than 235,000 without electricity.
Roughly 143,200 customers remained without power as of 4 p.m. Monday, according to PG&E, with the North Bay remaining the most impacted area, with 52,707 customers affected.
“In terms of outage totals, this was one of the top three most damaging, single-day storms on record, only comparable to storms in 1995 and 2008,” PG&E Chief Operating Officer Sumeet Singh said from the company’s Emergency Operations Center in Vacaville.
Seven rescued from Guadalupe River
But for many, it was high water rather than wind that posed the biggest threat.
In San Jose on Sunday, seven people and several dogs had to be rescued from islands in the rain-swollen Guadalupe River, San Jose fire officials said.
Crews responded about 1 p.m. after a car was seen in fast-moving waters near Taylor Street and Highway 87, in Guadalupe River Park, fire department spokesperson Jake Pisani said.
A drone was used and fire crews in the water located the car, which was unoccupied. While they were searching, however, they spotted three people on an island 300 feet away.
An inflatable boat was used to rescue the people, who had been camping there, Pisani said.
Further south in the river, near Autumn Parkway and Coleman Avenue, another four people were also rescued. Crews also rescued three dogs and a litter of nine puppies, Pisani said.
None of the people or dogs that were rescued were injured.
The worst appears to be behind the region for next few days, Behringer said, as conditions are expected to be much less stormy.
“After Wednesday it looks pretty pleasant,” Behringer said.
Bay City News staff writer Kathleen Kirkwood contributed to this story.
