Gusts up to 40 mph prompt wind advisory for Sonoma Coast; weekend rain expected

Residents of west Sonoma County will see the fastest gusts during a wind advisory issued by the National Weather Service, but a storm system arriving this weekend brings the chance of more widespread impact: the first measurable rain in weeks.

“We are expecting precipitation,” said Drew Peterson, a weather service meteorologist in the Bay Area office. “Possibly much more than we have seen this winter.”

A weak, dry storm system is driving the winds that pushed weather service officials to issue an advisory for the coastal regions of Sonoma and Marin counties Wednesday night.

Peterson said that data Thursday morning suggested that the coastal mountains and coastline are most likely to see wind gusts up to 35 or 40 mph, while the valley floors are more likely to experience "a moderate to strong breeze,“ with gusts reaching up to 30 mph.

Though the warning went into effect at 8 a.m. Thursday, Peterson said winds were not expected to pick up until the early afternoon and remain into the evening.

“The main impacts might be, if people put up holiday decorations, they might get blown over,” he said. The warning also cautions residents about potential disruption to power lines.

A storm system moving into the North Bay this weekend, however, will be wetter. Of the two fronts that Peterson said will pass through the area, the greater chance of rain is associated with the second front, which will arrive Saturday.

The coast could see up to 3 inches of rainfall, Peterson said, while Sonoma County cities could receive anywhere from three-quarters of an inch to 1.5 inches of rain.

That amount would essentially double the total precipitation Sonoma County has received since Oct. 1, the start of the water year. The county has seen only 18% of its normal amount of rainfall to date.

Peterson said his office is also keeping an eye on a potentially larger storm system that could arrive sometime around next Thursday.

“We may be beginning to transition out of this fall-like regime,” he said.

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