Light, steady Bay Area rain expected to be scattered as another cold front arrives

The second of two cold fronts that is set to bring slow, steady rain similar to the first one remained on schedule to reach the Bay Area on Wednesday as it descended from the Gulf of Alaska.

As it hits land, its path might be all over the place.

“The storm front itself has slowed down, so that we have individual showers moving along with it,” National Weather Service meteorologist Brayden Murdock said. “The one earlier in the week had more of a shape and a path to it. This one is not as structured, so the rain we get is going to be a lot more scattered.”

That said, the rain that falls is expected to be slow and steady, perhaps even steadier than it was when the first system moved through the region earlier this week. That system dumped the heaviest rain on Mount Tamalpais — nearly two inches since the start of Monday — as well as other parts of Sonoma County in the North Bay.

Those areas again figure to receive the lion’s share of the showers that scatter and break apart from the storm front. Murdock said the North Bay may receive another half-inch to three-quarters inches during the second wave. The rest of the Bay Area is expected to receive less.

Murdock said Oakland and San Francisco are likely to receive between a quarter-inch and one-third of an inch, while the rest of the interior East Bay and South Bay receive “perhaps one-tenth,” Murdock said.

“Very light,” Murdock said of the rain, “Very steady.”

The rain is expected to stop sometime before Thursday morning, at which point the Bay Area will begin to give way to sunnier weather. High pressure will build and most of the clouds that cover the region are likely to be gone by Friday.

That will not mean a huge heat-up. The weather service said temperatures are expected to peak in the low 80s in the hottest places early next week and that they may heat up into the middle or high 80s by the end of the work week.

“It’s not too strong a warm-up,” Murdock said. “We’ll get some nice sunny weather, but the temperatures will be getting close to average.”