Sunny skies are expected to return to Northern California on Monday after a storm system drenched the Bay Area over the weekend and dropped several feet of fresh powder atop the Sierra Nevada.
The final bands of rain were expected to trail off early Monday morning for much of the Bay Area after having soaked the drought-ridden landscape as part of a healthy, moist start to the region’s critical rainy season. Skies — as well as snowbound roads — also could begin clearing up Monday to the east, where up to 4 feet of snow was reported a ski resorts around Lake Tahoe.
A few stray bolts of lightning remained a possibility late Sunday, as forecasts called for the the last lines of storms to drop between a tenth and a half inch of rain across most of the Bay Area.
It all came as a relief for a region grappling with multiple years of withering drought. Still, far more moisture is needed over the next several months to truly bring the region’s soils, vegetation and reservoirs back to normal levels.
“We’re off to a decent start for the rainy season,” said Roger Gass, a National Weather Service meteorologist. “It’s definitely been beneficial and helpful for the long-term drought conditions. But all in all, it’s all another drop in the bucket as far as trying to climb of a multi-year drought.”
The parent system (spinning off of the northern California coast) that pushed the cold front through the Bay Area & Central Coast on Saturday will move southward overnight. Thus, showers and isolated thunderstorms will continue through the night. #CAwx #BayAreaWX pic.twitter.com/GNz8F82HAN
— NWS Bay Area 🌉 (@NWSBayArea) December 11, 2022
The storm helped make December the wettest month of 2022 for parts of the Bay Area.
Low-lying portions of the Bay Area — including Oakland, San Francisco, Palo Alto and Hayward — received between 1 and 2 inches of rain from Friday night through about 9 a.m. Sunday, according to rain gauges maintained by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. San Jose recorded 0.56 inches of rain through early Sunday morning, while its surrounding communities received well more than an inch. And the Oakland Hills received 2.15 to 2.72 inches of rain, along with the coastal mountains of San Mateo County.
Mount Tamalpais received 3.43 inches of rain over the last couple days, while other areas of Marin County generally received anywhere from 1 to 3 inches of precipitation.
Already, more moisture has fallen in Oakland and San Francisco this month than any other month in 2022. Oakland received 3.19 inches of rain from Dec. 1 through midnight Saturday — nearly twice as much as the city received in November and April, the next-wettest months, National Weather Service records show. San Francisco received 2.06 inches of rain in that time, seventh-tenths of an inch more than it received in November.
The weekend’s highest rainfall totals could be found in the Santa Cruz Mountains, which generally saw between four and five inches of rain. One station at Uvas Canyon County Park recorded 7.05 inches of rain.
Fire officials in Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties said the weekend storm brought only minor flooding, though downed trees blocked roads throughout the Santa Cruz Mountains. Eureka Canyon and Pioneer roads remained closed as of Sunday afternoon.
“We’ve dodged some bullets with this storm,” said Joe Paquin, fire captain for the CZU Cal Fire unit in Santa Cruz.
California highway officials shut down the internationally famous, two-lane winding cliffside road from just south of Deetjen’s Inn to Ragged Point. That’s after some areas of the coast from Monterey down through Big Sur saw upward of 7 inches of rain since Friday night, while one station near Mining Ridge recorded an eye-popping 12.96 inches of rain.
“There’s mud along the highway as well as rockslides in a number of places,” said Caltrans spokesperson Alexa Bertola, adding the roadway itself does not appear to be damaged.
After a wet Saturday more rain is on the way today. We’ll even see some snow in the Santa Lucias. Check out these rain totals from yesterday along with forecast amounts for today into tonight. Keep the umbrella handy! #cawx pic.twitter.com/bfSCtJXBUz
— NWS Bay Area 🌉 (@NWSBayArea) December 11, 2022
In the high country, more snow fell Sunday over the Sierra — adding to already-impressive totals for ski resorts bordering Lake Tahoe.
The Central Sierra Snow Lab near Donner Pass received nearly four feet of snow from late Friday through Sunday morning — almost all of which fell on Saturday, the laboratory reported on Twitter. Ski areas around Lake Tahoe received anywhere between 30 and 50 inches — making for a “very impressive” storm, said Cory Mueller, another National Weather Service meteorologist.
All that fresh powder made travel nearly impossible for people trying to cross the Sierra. Interstate 80 reopened to passenger vehicles on Sunday morning, though it remained closed to semi trucks in both directions between Colfax and the California-Nevada line. Chains also were still required over Donner Pass.
24 hour #snow: 37.8″ (96 cm)
48 hour snow: 43.5″ (110.5 cm)
7-day snow: 67.3″ (171 cm)We’re expecting light snow to continue through the day that should yield another 3-6″. pic.twitter.com/yJKGoZX9pP
— UC Berkeley Central Sierra Snow Lab (@UCB_CSSL) December 11, 2022
Before the storm hit, statewide snowpack totals were at 156% of normal for this time of year. Still, that amounted to just a quarter of the snowpack that’s expected to accumulate during the fall, winter and early spring — meaning that several more storms are needed to help bring the state out of its current drought, Mueller said.
He pointed out that the Sierra was walloped by snow last December, only to experience exceptionally dry conditions during the first few months of 2022. The lesson, he said, is that one good month of snow means little in the long run if more moisture doesn’t keep flowing to the state.
“Things can change quickly here in California,” Mueller said. “So definitely liking the (snowpack) start and hopefully we can keep it up.”
Source: www.mercurynews.com