Rain eases but the surf is high

<p>The North Coast on Wednesday morning was getting a break from overnight rains, which dropped a third of an inch in Santa Rosa.</p><p>“We are getting a bit of a reprieve, although there are scattered showers out there,” said Diane Henderson, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Monterey.</p><p>A small craft warning remained in effect on the Sonoma Coast for surf expected to get to 17 feet on Wednesday afternoon and winds gusting to 30 miles per hour.</p><p>“The surf is all over the place, now its 15 to 17 feet,” said Fireman Zach Wilson, who is with the U.S. Coast Guard in Bodega Bay. “It supposed to be getting bigger as the day progresses.”</p><p>The Coast Guard is planning to use the conditions to train in the surf either off of Salmon Creek or Dillon Beach in Marin County, Wilson said.</p><p>The Coast Guard's training is in surf breaking up to 20 feet and in seas running 30-foot swells.</p><p>“It's kind of an adrenalin rush, depending on the swell,” Wilson said.</p><p>The storm that passed through Tuesday night will leave scattered showers on Wednesday, with partly cloudy skies and some fog on Thursday and Friday.</p><p>Henderson said the next storm is expected to hit Friday night and last through Saturday, followed by another stronger storm Sunday night and Monday morning.</p>