Rain causes few problems around Sonoma County

<p>A storm blew in over the region Monday night into Tuesday morning, weakening along the way and bringing reduced rain totals, according to the National Weather Service.</p><p>A relatively small but welcome rain storm blew through the region Tuesday, toppling trees during its brief visit.</p><p>In Santa Rosa, a large eucalyptus broke through the roof of Summit Funding, a mortgage firm on North Dutton Avenue. Owner Otto Kobler discovered the damage when he arrived at the office early Tuesday.</p><p>“Ceiling tiles were down and air ducts crashed through the .<th>.<th>. ceiling,” he said. “I thought, ‘Wow, what happened?'”</p><p>Kobler assumed the damage related to the night's rainfall: “We had a little bit of rain. The ground softens up and down it comes.”</p><p>The eucalyptus was one of several trees that fell Tuesday around the North Coast in the aftermath of the storm.</p><p>Weather forecasters had hoped this storm would bring a decent deluge, more than an inch to the valleys anyway, to help nudge up the season's bleak rainfall totals.</p><p>Instead, totals in the North Bay averaged about a half-inch. </p><p>“The system broke up some,” said Diana Henderson, meteorologist with the National Weather Service. “There's not as much rain as we would have hoped for.”</p><p>Santa Rosa's average rainfall for this date is <NO1><NO>17.6 inches, <NO1><NO>and so far this year just under <NO1><NO>11 inches has been recorded.</p><p>The front arrived Monday night in a series of scattered showers that dissipated to dark grey clouds by late Tuesday morning.</p><p>Sunshine was back in the forecast for Wednesday and into the weekend, warming a little each day into the upper 60s. The next chance of rain in the North Bay, currently considered slight, is Sunday and Monday, according to the weather service.</p><p>Despite slick roadways, the CHP reported no major accidents Tuesday. Several minor crashes occurred around the county.</p><p>One caused major traffic headaches on Highway 101 in Rohnert Park when a driver hit a construction wall at 6:11 a.m., blocking one lane for about 40 minutes.</p><p>At the loan company Tuesday, Kobler was grateful the tree didn't fall during work hours. “Somebody easily could have gotten hurt.”</p><p>But the damage to the building appeared to be significant. “It's miserable,” he said. “Essentially we're shut down for the day.”</p><p>Kobler said he assumed the business would relocate temporarily.</p>