Northern California was lashed by a second wet and windy storm with the potential to take down trees and power lines on Sunday, days after a similar system moved through the region--though it appeared to do far less damage than a similar system two days earlier..
Thunderstorms and wind gusts of 45 miles per hour were forecast for the San Francisco Bay Area, where the storm was expected to drop as much as 3 inches of rain in coastal hills before moving out Monday afternoon.
The worst of the wind and rain was over for the San Francisco Bay Area by the early afternoon, though scattered showers were expected through Monday morning, said National Weather Service forecaster Austin Cross.
"This storm has less rain and is also moving through a bit quicker than we saw on Friday,'' Cross said. "That's helping it from getting too severe.''
At San Francisco International Airport, officials said more than 80 flights were canceled as of the afternoon. The Federal Aviation Administration was reporting arrival delays of as much as 2 hours.
Friday's storm led to the cancellation of 175 flights at the airport and delays of up to 90 minutes. It also knocked out power to more than 90,000 people in the Bay Area, almost all of whom had their power restored by Sunday morning. The storm dropped about three-quarters of an inch of rain on San Francisco — a welcome change after six dry weeks.
As of 5:45 p.m., 570 customers on the Peninsula, 480 in the North Bay, 40 in the East Bay, and 530 South Bay customers were without power, according to PG&E.
There were also reports of downed trees and some localized flooding. On the Peninsula, flooding has caused traffic on southbound U.S. Highway 101 just north of Marsh Road in San Mateo County Sunday afternoon, according to the California Highway Patrol.
Officers were notified of water flooding all southbound lanes north of Marsh Road around 11:30 a.m., CHP officials said.
At about noon, traffic was backed up for 2 miles just north of Henderson Avenue in Menlo Park, according to the CHP.
A Sig-alert was issued at 12:07 p.m.
The storm was far from a drought-buster, however, particularly as it stayed warm and didn't bring much snow to the Sierra. Snow is more important than rain because snowpack supplies about a third of the water needed by residents, agriculture and industry.
The storm dropped between 10 to 15 inches of snow at higher elevations of the Northern Sierra, according to the National Weather Service. Sunday's storm system was also expected to be warm, bringing as much as another 14 inches of snow.
Pacific Gas & Electric Co. said it had brought in crews from Oregon, Washington and Arizona to prepare for the storm.
#StormWatch: PG&E crews continue 24/7 restoration & prep. Stay safe today everyone. More info: http://t.co/MyIF9FCF85 pic.twitter.com/ZOn7wmxHFL
— PG&E (@PGE4Me) February 8, 2015
#StormWatch #SafetyTip: If you see a downed power line keep everyone away from the area and call 911 #norcal #cawx pic.twitter.com/4RAaQVv8oS
— PG&E (@PGE4Me) February 8, 2015
Winds & rain will increase late AM Sunday & build thru the afternoon; winds are expected to peak late Sunday PM #cawx pic.twitter.com/Xixmsm9eCu
— PG&E (@PGE4Me) February 8, 2015
E23 T23 & BC5 on-scene of a tree into a house. More high winds expected tonight. #SanMateo pic.twitter.com/1yJWyDNXRx
— San Mateo FD (@SanMateoFD) February 9, 2015
Bay City News contributed to this report.
Photo Credit: NBC Bay Area
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