First rainstorm dropped third of an inch in Santa Rosa

A storm passed through Sonoma County on Saturday, dropping as much as an inch of rain in places, and forecasters predict more wet weather is not far behind.

The storm, which began Friday evening and lasted through Saturday afternoon, dropped 0.35 of an inch of rain at Charles M. Schulz-Sonoma County Airport, about half an inch in Sebastopol and an inch in Occidental, according to the National Weather Service.

In Fort Bragg, backed-up storm drains caused brief flooding in the streets.

“It was a bit of an inconvenience for about an hour,” said Fort Bragg police dispatcher Tracy Porter. “Public Works took care of it.”

The second of three consecutive storms is expected to begin early today and last all day, according to the National Weather Service. Monday should be dry, followed by the wettest of the three systems on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Elsewhere, TV crews turned out to record the sight - uncommon lately - of authorities in Contra Costa and San Mateo counties opening sandbag stations to help residents guard against any local flooding.

The National Weather Service was predicting up to 5 inches in the Sierra Nevada mountains.

At Donner Pass in the Sierra Nevada, manager Jake Sullivan at the Union 76 service station was watching the couple of inches of snow that fell overnight as it melted, and thinking positive thoughts about more snow to come. In all, up to a foot of snow was expected to fall before the weekend ends, a welcome prospect after a dry winter last year all but killed the ski season for many communities.

“This has been a good one,” Sullivan said of the weekend storm. “You have to be an optimist up here. Everyone here thrives on snow.”