Torrential rainfall throughout the night swamped roadways, creeks and rain gauges with more than 5 inches in hilltop communities like Cazadero and up to 3 inches elsewhere in Sonoma County, pushing the Russian River to flood Wednesday morning.
Fierce winds hit 60 mph on the Golden Gate Bridge and gusts hit between 20 and 30 mph in areas of Sonoma County, flinging tree limbs onto power lines. A towering Douglas fir crashed down onto a Sebastopol house, just missing a sleeping woman inside.
This latest storm to pummel much of the state provided eye-popping rainfall totals and is reminiscent of January’s tempests. Flooded roads delayed morning commuters and funneled traffic onto detours. In the Tahoe region, heavy snow and flooding rain knocked out power for thousands.
Forecasts had called for more than 3 inches of rain in the Sonoma County hills and this storm delivered that and more since Monday.
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“That’s a lot of rain,” National Weather Service meteorologist Steve Anderson said.
The rain had eased by late morning in many areas of Sonoma County, but Anderson said the storm is far from over. The atmospheric river over vast areas of California was expected to continue dumping rain on Sonoma County through Tuesday and into the night. Wednesday will provide some relief from the deluge, followed by another storm of nearly equal magnitude expected to return to Sonoma County Thursday.
“We’re not certain where the heaviest rain is going into fall,” Anderson said.
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Rain totals and a Russian River flood watch
The lowest areas along an already swollen Russian River were slipping under water Tuesday morning, including the parking lot at the Monte Rio beach.
The river is predicted to crest at 34 feet about mid-day Wednesday in Guerneville. Flood stage there is 32 feet.
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Rain gauges peppered across the region show a dramatic rainfall in the hills — with a whopping 7 inches in the community of Venado west of Healdsburg.
Most of the county received between 1 and 3 inches of rain in the 24 hours that ended 11 a.m. Tuesday.
Totals hit 2.7 inches at Sonoma County Charles M. Schulz Airport and 1.25 inches in downtown Santa Rosa. Cloverdale received 2.7 inches, Sebastopol measured 2 inches with 1.8 inches in Petaluma, 2.1 in Sonoma.
“With the ground already saturated, even two inches of rain would cause widespread problems,” Anderson said.
Volunteer weather watchers for the National Weather Service checked in with 3.69 inches in Geyserville, 3.2 inches in Windsor, 3.44 inches in Healdsburg, 3.18 inches in Cloverdale and 3.06 inches in Boyes Hot Springs.
Three rain reports in Cazadero showed 4.29‑5.32 inches fell in those coastal hills since Monday morning. In Santa Rosa, one neighborhood report was as high as 2.99 inches.
Mendocino County reports included 4.23 inches in Laytonville and 2.34 inches in Ukiah. A Calistoga resident reported 3.35 inches. The volunteer amounts aren’t from official weather stations but offer forecasters a sense of differing weather within the same areas.
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Power outages
Relentless winds sent branches and downed trees into power lines, knocking out power for thousands of customers in large areas of Santa Rosa and great swaths of the west county and Cloverdale.
At its peak, more than 10,000 Santa Rosa customers had no power.
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