Multi-day storms cause outages and downed trees in North Bay

Multi-day storms cause outages and downed trees in North Bay

After several days of rain that flooded the North Bay and resulted in widespread power outages, downed trees and numerous road closures, residents in Sonoma and Napa counties will take a break after Monday.

After several days of rain that drenched the North Bay and caused widespread power outages, downed trees and the closure of numerous roads, residents in Sonoma and Napa counties will take a break after Monday.

The storm system that began Wednesday evening dumped more than 7 inches of rain in the western part of Sonoma County and over 4 inches in parts of Napa County Saturday afternoon, National Weather Service officials said.

Rainfall totals reached 4.3 inches in Santa Rosa and up to 7.43 inches in Venado.

Totals in Napa County were lower than Sonoma but still significant, with Calistoga receiving 4.3 inches and the valleys receiving more than 3.5 inches, according to the weather service.

Rick Canepa, a meteorologist with the weather service’s Monterey office, said the North Bay was in for a dry day Sunday, but he could expect another rain system to move through the region early Monday morning throughout the day.

The system is forecast to bring another three to seven-tenths of an inch of rain to the North Bay on Monday, but the system will be much weaker, Canepa said.

The rain will taper off after Monday, giving North Bay residents a “dry week” through the weekend, Canepa added.

In San Francisco, strong wind conditions led to the city’s first tornado warning.

San Francisco did not experience a tornado, but the town of Scotts Valley near Santa Cruz did, several local news outlets reported.

Further north, however, wind gusts peaked at 31 mph in Sonoma County and 33 mph in Napa County — not strong enough to warrant a tornado warning.

Still, storm conditions on Saturday caused thousands of people to lose power.

As of 1 p.m., more than 800 customers in Napa County and more than 7,200 customers in Sonoma County were without power, said JD Guidi, a spokesman for PG&E.

Teams worked throughout the day to restore power to affected regions, Guidi added.

The rains also caused minor flooding and forced the closure of several county roads.

In Santa Rosa, Todd Road was closed between Old Gravenstein Highway and Llano Road. In Rohnert Park, the Rohnert Park Expressway was closed at Stony Point Road due to flooding.

In Sebastopol, a huge tree fell in the 4800 block of Hessel Road during rainy and windy weather, according to a photo submitted by an off-duty Santa Rosa Police Department officer.

Road closures also occurred in several other towns, including Bodega, Forestville and Windsor.

A complete and updated list of closures can be found on the Sonoma County Public Infrastructure website: https://roadconditions.sonomacounty.ca.gov/.

Contact Staff Writer Anna Armstrong at 707-521-5255 or [email protected]. On X (Twitter) @annavarmstrongg.

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