SAN FRANCISCO — Hundreds of Bay Area residents are without power on Thursday due to weather-related issues.
The first of three successive storms rolled through the Bay Area on Tuesday night and continued into Wednesday. The wet-weather systems this week could bring relief to drought conditions in Northern California and reduce wildfire risk in the region.
As of 1 p.m. Thursday, about 1,990 PG&E customers in the Bay Area are experiencing power outages: 536 in the Peninsula, 479 in the North Bay, 580 in the South Bay, 254 in the East Bay and 141 in San Francisco.
“Crews continue to work safely and as quickly as possible to restore power to customers who are impacted by weather-related power outages,” said PG&E spokesperson Tamar Sarkissian.
Twenty-four-hour precipitation totals as of Thursday at 8 p.m. include: 3.04 inches in Mount Diablo, 0.55 inches in Loma Prieta, 0.88 inches in San Francisco, 0.07 inches in Redwood City, 0.36 inches in Oakland and 0.12 inches in Milpitas, according to preliminary National Weather Service data. There were trace amounts in San Jose.
Light showers will continue throughout Thursday and another cold front is set to arrive Friday morning, bringing an expected 0.10 to 0.25 inches of rain in San Jose, 0.50 to 1 inches in the Peninsula and 1 to 2 inches in the North Bay coastal mountains, according to Jeff Lorber, a NWS meterologist. An atmospheric river, a moisture-rich narrow storm, was upgraded to a Category 5 system on Tuesday —the highest possible level — and is expected to hit the Bay Area on Sunday night into Monday, bringing up to 1-3 inches across the region with localized areas to receive 5 inches or more of rain.
“We do expect rainfall to pretty much squash the fire weather concerns for the foreseeable future, although it’s possible we could get a dry winter season so fire concerns could ramp up in December or January if we have very dry extended period with warm temperatures,” Lorber said.
Sunday’s storm could also carry heightened risks of flooding and debris flows.
“We do have concerns, especially spots that have burn scars where the vegetation has been stripped and the soil isn’t held together as strongly,” Lorber said. “Debris flows are caused by surface runoff as the water picks up rocks and sediments and ash and carries that down hillsides or mountains, so that’s going to enhance the risks.”
Elevations above 9,000 feet in the Sierra Nevadas could get 18 inches or more of snow from Sunday until Monday morning, according to the NWS, which also warned of possible power outages, difficult travel and road closures due to snow.
Staff writer George Kelly contributed to this report.
