No major damage has been reported after what’s expected to be the strongest period of an atmospheric river passed through the North Bay. Authorities report some trees falling in west Sonoma County and along the coast on Wednesday. About a thousand PG&E customers from Stewart’s Point to north of Sea Ranch lost power, but there is a new outage this morning in the same general area impacting over 200 customers. Light, scattered showers are expected to continue through early Saturday. Then, the region is bracing for another, likely stronger storm system arriving Sunday morning lasting through Monday.
“It appears that some of the coastal ranges could yet again see about 3-5 inches of rain,” Miller said. “In the valleys and the populated areas, generally a bit less than in the order of 1-2 inches. But we’ll just have to kind of watch and track how that evolves in the coming days.”
Meteorologist Sean Miller with the National Weather Service says flooding could become an issue as well as landslides.
Officials in Sonoma and Mendocino Counties are keeping an eye on the Russian River for minor flooding. An atmospheric river has prompted a flood watch for the entire North Bay until four a.m. Friday. In Hopland, the Russian River passed its 15-foot flood stage early this morning. Just before 3 AM, the river crested at just over 17-feet. That resulted in significant flooding on Highway 175 near the Russian River Bridge and minor flooding on Highway 222 near Ukiah. Flooding is not expected in any other communities along the river.
