Not even 24 hours after the last light showers fell along the tail end of an atmospheric river storm, the sprinklers turned back on ahead of a new storm that’s set to slam the region Monday.
That moisture from the southern part of the Pacific Ocean finally started touching land about 5 p.m. Sunday, according to the National Weather Service. It was enough to drop light rain primarily in the interior mountains of the North Bay and in the coastal ranges, and with a few areas of drizzle in the East Bay.
Next comes the Monday bombardment, with rain likely falling hard enough to give those same North Bay interior mountains at least 3 inches of rain and areas of the North Bay and coastal ranges between 2 and 2½, according to the weather service. Areas of Alameda, Contra Costa and Santa Clara counties likely will get between three-quarters and and an inch of rain.
And unlike the atmospheric river storm of last week, this one is not taking its time.
“It’s really fast-moving,” NWS meteorologist Nicole Sarment said Sunday night. “This one does have a better chance of thunderstorms. I’d argue that’s our biggest concern with this one. We’re also starting to see the soils start to get overly saturated, and that also brings concern for run-off. But the higher chances are for thunder and lightning, and we actually (already) had the first strikes offshore.”
The region already has seen three systems go through the area since the start of November. The weather service reported that since Thursday, Mt. Umunum in the Santa Cruz Mountains has received 3.3 inches of rain, Santa Cruz 1.3 inches, Livermore 0.9 inches, Fremont 0.35 inches and San Jose .13 inches. Concord received only .01 inches.
Sarment said the speed of the system is good news regarding the concern for flooding but that minor flooding was possible. The roadways also are expected to be slick.
By Tuesday, the rain should be done, but Sarment said more is expected Wednesday morning and possibly Friday morning leading into the weekend. Those showers will be not nearly as heavy as those coming Monday, she said, with no more than three-quarters of an inch expected anywhere and some places likely to get only a smidgen, if any.
High surf also will return to the beaches on Friday, though the weather service said they will have more specific details of what that may look like as the week moves ahead.