The opening day of the work week brought with it conditions that some might consider ideal. Temperatures comfortably warm and above average for the season, though not too hot. Winds barely rippling. Sun mixing with clouds.
Call it a false flag — at least as far as the weeklong weather is concerned.
On tap Wednesday will be the arrival of another atmospheric river storm, this one moving in from a more southern part of the Pacific Ocean.
“Right now, we have have high pressure over the region down through Southern California and into the desert southwest,” National Weather Service meteorologist Roger Gass said. “But that’s all going to shift eastward.”
Once that happens, rain is expected to fall intensely in much of the region, and winds are expected to gust heavily again. In short, it will be quite similar experience to a storm that hit the region last week.
“It’s going to have some tropical influence,” Gass said. “We are not expecting showers but more so heavy rain.”
The most intense rain is likely to begin falling late Wednesday and into Thursday morning, Gass said. Rain then will linger some into Friday.
Again, the coastal ranges will be pounded most heavily. The weather service said they expect between 1½ and 3 inches or rain to fall on Big Sur and in locations in the Santa Cruz Mountains. The North Bay and areas of Marin County may also see that much.
Areas in Contra Costa, Alameda, Santa Clara and San Mateo counties are likely to receive between 1 and 1½ inches, the weather service said.
The system also will bring a slight chance of thunder and lightning Wednesday night, while powerful winds are a certainty, according to the weather service. Wind gusts through the region are expected to blow heaviest on Wednesday night when they clock between 30 and 40 mph
“They will be mainly southerly winds that are picking up by late Wednesday night into Thursday afternoon,” Gass said. “Then they will become a bit more westerly as the front hits.”
The rain should be finished by Saturday but temperatures will remain cool, with the high temperatures not expected to get past 65 degrees during the weekend.