Below-freezing temperatures hit Sonoma County ahead of storm

Temperatures dipped into the 20s across Sonoma County early Tuesday morning, ahead of a storm expected to bring strong winds and significant rain to the North Bay.

“We’re hitting our coldest temperatures right about now,” said Drew Peterson, meteorologist with the National Weather Service, just before 8 a.m., the time that a freeze warning issued by the Bay Area office was set to expire.

Within the first hour of the sun rising Tuesday morning, temperatures from Petaluma to Healdsburg remained in the mid- to upper-20s. Rural areas outside of Sebastopol, Santa Rosa and Petaluma recorded the lowest overnight temperatures, Peterson said, ranging from 23 to 25 degrees.

Sonoma County officials issued a freeze warning late Monday in response to the National Weather Service’s warning, which was in place from 2 a.m. to 8 a.m. Tuesday.

The Bay Area office has also issued a flash flood watch that will go into effect at 4 p.m. Tuesday, in anticipation of the arrival of an atmospheric river. Winds up to 30 mph with gusts up to 60 mph could accompany the expected 4 to 6 inches of rain that officials say could fall in Sonoma County as the storm passes southward through the North Bay.

A high wind advisory goes into effect at 7 p.m. Tuesday, stretching into Wednesday afternoon.

You can reach Staff Writer Kaylee Tornay at 707-521-5250 or kaylee.tornay@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @ka_tornay.