A rollicking mix of rain, wind, sun, big waves on the coast, even hail in some places played out Saturday across the Bay Area, delivering a colorful catalogue of winter weather conditions all packed into a few hours.
Forecasters say that from Sunday through Wednesday, sunny conditions will return, with high temperatures hitting the 60s in some places, and plunging overnight into the low 30s — even high 20s — in some inland areas by mid-week.
“Sometimes in the winter, it’s just a roller coaster ride,” said Roger Gass, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Monterey.
The National Weather Service issued a high surf advisory from Marin County to Big Sur Saturday until 7 p.m., with waves from 18 to 22 feet high pounding the coast.
“There are active storms out over the Pacific,” Gass said. “They generated some pretty large swell that has been moving into the area. It’s created dangerous beach conditions for people visiting beaches, although I’m sure some of the surfers are happy.”
Sure enough, as impressive and at times imposing big waves rolled into Northern California beaches Saturday afternoon, surfers flocked to many of the most popular spots, including Steamer Lane in Santa Cruz, where crowds gathered to watch the iconic break.
The rain Saturday, brought in from the northwest in a low-pressure system, marked the first wet conditions across the Bay Area in a week, a welcome rest after three weeks of record-soaking storms from nine atmospheric rivers in January that caused flooding, boosted reservoirs and dumped massive amounts of snow in the Sierra Nevada.
Rain amounts Saturday were modest. Mount Diablo in the East Bay received the most, totaling .67 inches in the 24 hours ending at 4:30 pm Saturday. Next was White Rock Ridge, in the hills south of Carmel, with .59 inches, Rodeo with .45, Fremont Peak near Hollister with .43, and Mount Tamalpais in Marin County, with .40.
The Santa Cruz Mountains receive about one-third of an inch Saturday, while major Bay Area cities saw less, with San Francisco receiving .08 inches, Oakland .06 and San Jose .04.
“The rainfall has been spotty and scattered,” Gass said. “We don’t have a deep plume of moisture pushing inland like an atmospheric river. This is more like isolated rain showers, although some areas had a few waves pass through.”
With cold air aloft, the precipitation turned to hail briefly Saturday morning in a few spots.
Despite the modest totals, the Bay Area is still well ahead of its historical rainfall averages this winter, a hopeful sign after three years of severe drought. From Oct. 1 through Saturday afternoon, San Francisco had received 22.83 inches of rain — 160% of normal for that date, and an amount equal to the city’s entire average yearly total, with two months left to go in the winter rainy season.
Oakland was at 21.99 inches on Saturday — or 194% of its historical average, and also well above its annual average yearly total of 18.68 inches. Meanwhile, San Jose was at 116% of its historical average with 9.08 inches since Oct. 1, still about 4 inches short of its annual yearly average of 13.48 inches.
The forecast calls for high pressure to return to the West Coast. That means sunny weather Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, with a chance of rain returning Thursday and Friday.
“We’re going to get a little bit of a break,” Gass said. “But it will be cold overnight.”
Source: www.mercurynews.com