You’ll want to grab an umbrella as part of your start-of-the-week routine tomorrow.
A low-end to moderate “atmospheric river” storm — a narrow, moisture-rich system — is expected to hit the Bay Area sometime Monday afternoon or evening, with strong gusts in the area’s coastal regions. It could bring as much as 2 to 3 inches of rain to the North Bay and Santa Cruz Mountains, while San Francisco could get an inch or an inch and a half, according to the weather service.
The bulk of the rain will most likely miss the South Bay and East Bay, with less than an inch expected.
Most of the rain will drop Monday night and early Tuesday morning. Some localized urban and stream flooding is possible, as well as scattered power outages.
The storm won’t be nearly as ferocious as the one that pummeled the Bay Area on Oct. 24. That one, the strongest in years, brought 2 feet of rain to parts of Marin County, a foot in the East Bay and four inches in San Francisco.
But winds on Monday could get blustery. Gusts of 20 to 30 mile per hour are expected, and could reach up to 40 miles per hour in coastal areas. National Weather Service meteorologist Jeff Lorber said a wind advisory may be posted today.
“As you go further inland, winds will be less of an issue,” Lorber said. “Flooding is definitely less of a concern with this system (compared to last month’s). It’s looking like it is a quicker-moving system. The duration and intensity of the rainfall will be a lot less. The winds could be similar to what we saw with the previous system.”
Although the Bay Area’s recent wet weather has placated fears of a ferocious fire season, Lorber said the year’s rainfall will still make a “very small dent” in the region’s drought outlook. The Bay Area’s last two winters have been exceptionally dry, with water use restrictions implemented across the region.
And Monday’s storm may be one of the last wet periods the area experiences for a while.
“After this system passes through, looks like we’re going into a prolonged dry period,” said Lorber, who added that temperatures for the month of November are expected to be above average.
Source: www.mercurynews.com