Santa Rosa gets more rain and now, a frost advisory

Ongoing April showers and a frost advisory unusual for this time of year challenged weather-weary Sonoma County residents after a potent one-two punch Friday brought winds, toppled trees, knocked out power and added to the record rainfall.

Almost 2.5 inches fell at Charles M. Schulz-Sonoma County Airport Santa Rosa over a 24-hour period that ended at 5 p.m. Friday, extending the new record to 58.15 inches for the season and eclipsing the previous high mark of 55.68 inches in 1983.

“It’s a decent amount of rain. It puts you well ahead of the power curve,” said Bob Benjamin, forecaster with the National Weather Service. “This is the highest amount we’ve had in a water year, ever.”

And the numbers keep going up.

Showers overnight and Saturday morning were expected to add as much as another half-inch to the total before the weather dries out and overnight cold sets in. That’s prompting an unusual frost advisory for this time of year.

The predicted 34 degree low for Sunday morning in Petaluma and 36 degrees in Santa Rosa could damage sensitive plants and create frost on windshields, according to the weather service.

It follows the decidedly not spring-like heavy winds and driving rain Thursday night into early Friday that created hazardous driving conditions and felled trees and power lines. For some residents the outage was short-lived, but almost 700 Sonoma County residents were still without power mid-day Friday.

Residents in Santa Rosa, Sebastopol, Petaluma, Occidental, Kenwood, Bodega and Jenner were all affected, but power was restored to most homes later in the day.

The weather caused organizers of the POC Med Golf Classic at Windsor Golf Club to cancel Friday’s play in the $100,000-purse tournament featuring 144 of the top women’s golfers in the U.S. and more than two dozen other countries. The 54-hole tournament is expected to continue today as a 36-hole tournament.

While dry weather is projected for a few more days, more rain could arrive by mid-week.

“It doesn’t look quite as ominous,” Benjamin said.

There will be light showers as early as Tuesday with heavier rain by Wednesday night and showers lingering into Thursday and Friday.

And don’t count on holding an Easter egg hunt quite yet, at least if it’s outside.

Computer models are showing more rain for Easter weekend, although they differ on whether it arrives Saturday or Sunday.

But predictions that far out are not always very reliable.

“It’s out there where the crystal ball is terribly fuzzy,” Benjamin said.

You can reach Staff Writer Clark Mason at 707-521-5214 or clark.mason@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter@clarkmas.