Sonoma County gets rain, with a little more next week

Petaluma got hail mixed with rain Thursday afternoon, and Sonoma County received a smidge of rain heading into a cold, dry weekend with prospects for more precipitation early next week.

Santa Rosa recorded 0.01 inches of rain Thursday, bringing the total since Oct. 1 to 12.97 inches, far below the 52-inch total for the same time last year.

Fort Bragg was the wettest spot in the region with ?0.13 inches Thursday, the only reading above one-tenth of an inch. The Mendocino coast city has 19.22 inches for the season compared with more than 49 inches last year.

Scattered showers are expected Monday or Tuesday as a fairly dry system moves into the San Francisco Bay Area, National Weather Service meteorologist Will Pi said.

The system will likely deliver less than one-quarter inch of rain, which won’t do much to break the dry spell, he said. But the outlook into early March offers a chance of more significant rain “that would be welcome,” Pi said.

Rain mixed with slush and harmless hail fell in Petaluma in a pair of bursts over a two-hour period Thursday afternoon, Petaluma Fire Battalion Chief Dave Kahn said. The hail was too small and soft to do any damage, he said.

Hail also was reported in Bodega Bay and Contra Costa County, Pi said.

Today should be sunny with a high near 58 degrees, the weather service said.

Saturday and Sunday should be mostly sunny with highs in Santa Rosa of 57 and 60, respectively. Temperatures will be a few degrees cooler Monday and Tuesday, along with some precipitation.