DANVILLE, CA – JANUARY 27: Emma Lakin walks with her dog Finnegan along a trail that received a light dusting of snow near the summit of Mount Diablo State Park on Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2021, near Danville, Calif. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group)
The first major storm of this winter arrived Wednesday, as an atmospheric river system hit the North Bay and began to spread south.
Along with the rain, increasingly powerful winds blew gusts of 20-30 mph consistently in the East and South Bay areas. Several peaks including Mount Diablo and Mount Hamilton were dusted with snow and trees and branches were downed, filling roadways like Oakland’s Skyline Boulevard with debris.
Thousands of residents in the Santa Cruz Mountains evacuated to avoid potentially deadly mudslides on hillsides that burned last fall during the historic wildfires, with more rain on the way. Meanwhile, San Mateo County officials issued evacuation orders for rural parts of the southern San Mateo coast.
The storm, which is descending from the North Pacific, is the third system to move through the region since last Friday and is set to do the most damage, according to forecasters. San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose could see 2 to 3 inches of rain Wednesday and Thursday, the Santa Cruz Mountains 5 to 8 inches, and Big Sur up to 12 inches in some places.
Staff reporter Paul Rogers contributed to this report.
ALBANY, CA – JANUARY 27: The Floor Store employees check out the flooding on Cleveland Avenue after a rain storm in Albany, Calif., on Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2020. The building slightly flooded and some carpets were damaged. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group) BOULDER CREEK, CA – JAN. 27: A soggy coyote wanders along Highway 236, Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2021, after inches of rain fell overnight in Boulder Creek, Calif. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group) SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA – JANUARY 27: A PG&E truck drives past a puddle at the corner of Mabury Road and Clearview Drive as a power outage remains in the area in the Alum Rock neighborhood in San Jose, Calif., on Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2021. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group) SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA – JANUARY 27: Eshan Gupta talks about a power outage as his home remains without electricity since around 2:50 A.M. in the Hidden Glen North neighborhood in East San Jose, Calif., on Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2021. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group) DANVILLE, CA – JANUARY 27: Parker Scott walks along a roadway that received a light dusting of snow near the summit of Mount Diablo State Park on Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2021, near Danville, Calif. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group) OAKLAND, CA – JANUARY 27: A large tree was down along Skyline Boulevard after a rain and wind storm in Oakland, Calif., on Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2020. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group) Pounding surf greets visitors to the beach in Rio Del Mar Wednesday morning. (Shmuel Thaler – Santa Cruz Sentinel) SALINAS, CA – JAN. 27: Sand bags are brought by the Monterey Fire Department to help locals protecting their property along Pine Canyon Road in Salinas, Calif., Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2021, as storm runoff continues to flow from the burn zone of last year’s River Fire. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group) OAKLAND, CA – JANUARY 27: A view of downtown Oakland and San Francisco are seen from Skyline Boulevard as clouds hang over after a rain and wind storm in Oakland, Calif., on Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2020. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group) A dog and dog walker are reflected in a puddle on Aptos Beach Drive on Wednesday in an area in Rio Del Mar where localized flooding is common during hard rains. (Shmuel Thaler – Santa Cruz Sentinel) BOULDER CREEK, CA – JAN. 27: Debris in the CZU burn scar above Boulder Creek, Calif., stays in place after an intense rain storm early, Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2021. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group) ALBANY, CA – JANUARY 27: People walk past the flooding on Cleveland Avenue after a rain storm in Albany, Calif., on Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2020. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group) SALINAS, CA – JAN. 27: A scarecrow in the fields along River Road in Salinas, Calif., yields to stiff storm winds, Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2021. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
