Storm Door Swings Open; Fronts Stack Up In Pacific Heading Towards The Bay Space – CBS San Francisco
CONCORD (CBS SF) – After months of drought conditions, Mother Nature has thrown open the storm door and piled rain-laden cold fronts far into the Pacific, promising much-needed rainfall in the parched northern California hills.
The first of the fronts swept the area with light showers on Sunday night.
“These showers brought from a few hundredths of an inch of rain on parts of our coasts and bays to nearly a quarter of an inch of rain on some of the highest peaks along the North Bay coastline,” the National Weather Service said.
KPIX 5 weather center: Current conditions, maps, forecasts for your region
Among those who dodged raindrops was John Mohamedi.
“It was dry, you know, the plants, the people,” he said. “We need something else. The world is going crazy somehow, we need a little adjustment. “
Casey Caster from Concord agreed.
“All we had is fire for fire, for fire,” he said over the tinder-dry hills. “In addition, all reservoirs are drying up. We have nothing. There is hope, praise God, we have hope. “
But the showers also brought slippery roads and triggered power outages in the Bay Area that saw thousands woke up in homes without power on Monday morning.
The moisture from the showers combined with layers of dust accumulated over several months has short-circuited dozens of power transformers and electrical lines.
“After a long time without rain, dust, dirt, salt and other substances collect on power lines,” said a statement from the energy provider. “When the first fog or rain comes after a long period of drought, this mixture turns into mud that conducts electricity. This can damage electrical equipment and possibly lead to so-called electrical flashovers or tracking (electricity finds another path or another path instead of the cable) and can therefore lead to power outages. “
“Other causes of weather-related damage are electric arcs. If there is enough dust and particles in the air near power lines, an electric arc and electrical flashover can occur. “
At 7 a.m., around 11,000 households were still without electricity. There were 6,214 without power in the East Bay and 5,123 in the peninsula.
The storm front also brought a blanket of snow into the Sierra, with up to 8 inches falling at the higher elevations. Chain requirements applied to the high passes on Highways 80 and 50.
Storm overproduced last night! Woke up to this beautiful winter wonderland in Truckee, CA! 🤞🏼 lasts the whole season! #SierraSnow #truckee @NWSReno pic.twitter.com/iJbahm0ko8
– Leigh (@lp_progressive) October 18, 2021
Larger flakes are now falling in Nyack # ABC10 #Sierra #snow #Truckee # MorningBlend10 pic.twitter.com/qSqYvADAP7
– Carley Gomez (@Carleygomez) October 18, 2021
And more was on the way.
“The next in a string of potentially wetter storms will hit the region late Tuesday through Wednesday,” the Reno National Weather Services office said in a statement. “More active and wetter weather patterns will continue into the weekend.”
