Storm dumps more than 8 inches of rain on parts of Sonoma County, more on the way

A second round of rain showers and thunderstorms swept through the North Bay Thursday, as one of the largest storms of the winter season pushed through Northern California.

A weaker wave of showers reached Sonoma County by mid-morning after breezing through Marin County, with a half-inch more expected over the next few days.

First responders said they were fielding calls of downed trees, power lines and flooding for most of Wednesday night as the storm peaked at midnight, bringing with it strong winds of up to 50 mph in some areas.

The storm led to at least two fatalities Wednesday. A Livermore man suspected of speeding crossed the double yellow line and crashed his Nissan into a Dodge truck, killing him, the CHP said. Oakland and San Francisco-area media also reported a tree fell on a homeless encampment in Oakland, killing a man.

Between 10 a.m. Tuesday and 10 a.m. Thursday, the period with most of the rainfall, most parts of Sonoma County received between 2 and 3 inches of rain, the National Weather Service reported. Venado, in the northern part of the county, had significantly more rainfall, reporting more than 8 inches over the same period. Winds reached 46 mph in Santa Rosa. They were significantly higher in other parts of the Bay Area, peaking at 98 mph at Big Rock Ridge in Marin County.

The rain largely stopped after 10 a.m. Thursday, with the Sonoma County Airport reporting only one one-hundredth of an inch over the next six hours, according to the National Weather Service.

Around a half-inch more rain is expected through the end of the weekend, followed by at least a week of dry weather starting Monday, National Weather Service meteorologist Duane Dykema said.

Power outages were reported throughout Sonoma County. Some residents and businesses were without power Thursday morning, including the local California Highway Patrol office, which operated on a backup generator for more than 12 hours.

The storm also knocked over a redwood tree, which caused a power line to fall on trees on Occidental Camp Meeker Road near Acreage Lane, Occidental Fire Chief Ron Lunardi said Thursday. The trees then started smoking.

“The lines got knocked down by the top of a redwood tree. That de-energized them,” Lunardi said. “PG&E, while turning on service again, they energized that line, so obviously it started smoking in the trees.”

Lunardi said it is not uncommon for power lines to cause trees to smoke following a large storm, and there was no fire danger from the incident due to the large amount of rain. PG&E was not available for comment Thursday night.

Falling trees caused numerous other problems in Occidental. The top portion of a redwood tree grazed a house at Taylor Lane in Occidental on Wednesday night, damaging three cars.

Lunardi said the house did not receive any structural damage but one car was totaled from the fallen tree. He said they responded to about 20 downed trees during the course of the storm.

“We’ll be down at the fire station tonight cleaning up all our chainsaws,” he said.

Santa Rosa didn’t see much storm-related chaos, according to Santa Rosa Fire Department Battalion Chief Matt Dahl.

“The call volume’s been relatively routine, at least in the city. I haven’t had any reports of anything too crazy related to the storm,” he said.

Horicon School District, Kashia School District and El Molino High School in Forestville closed Thursday because of power outages, the county’s education office said.

The storm caused wastewater overflows in Sonoma Valley, twice overflowing at Vailletti at Casa Bella and once each at Highway 12 at Agua Caliente Creek and Rancho Vista Trailer Park at Rancho Drive, according to Sonoma Water.

Less than 50,000 gallons spilled out during the four overflows.

Ryan Walbrun, National Weather Service meteorologist, said parts of the Russian River near Healdsburg and Guerneville rose higher than predicted during the storm. As of Thursday night, the river level was at 25.3 feet near Guerneville and 12.7 feet near Healdsburg, both within normal levels, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

To date, Santa Rosa has accumulated over 17 inches of rain since Oct. 1, putting the city at 94 percent of rainfall average for January, Walbrun said.

“This time last year Santa Rosa was only at 59 percent of normal so this is really good news for how much better we are doing,” he said.

You can reach Staff Writer Alexandria Bordas at 707-521-5337 or alexandria.bordas@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @CrossingBordas. You can reach Staff Writer Andrew Beale at 707-521-5205 or andrew.beale@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @iambeale.