Sonoma County gets light rain, with more on the way

Sonoma County could be in for more wet weather in the coming days, following a weak storm system that brought light rain to parts of the North Bay on Monday night, according to the National Weather Service.

Meteorologists are anticipating the next arrival of rain Friday night.

“This will definitely be one of the wetter storms we’ve seen so far in 2022,“ said weather service meteorologist Brooke Bingaman, noting that it’s been an unusually dry year so far.

The incoming storm, which is expected to dump most of its moisture on Saturday, will spread across the entirety of the Bay Area, according to Bingaman.

It’s set to bring enough rain to dampen vegetation and temporarily ease concerns about wildfires spreading through dry fuels, Bingaman said.

Most of Sonoma County is expected to see about a quarter-inch of rain through Sunday, when the storm clears out, Bingaman said. The North Bay hills could see up to an inch.

That represents a significant boost to the amount of rain that’s fallen so far this year in the North Bay.

Santa Rosa, for example, has logged just 0.91 inches of precipitation since Jan. 1, which is about 6% of the 15.73 inches the city would normally get, according to the weather service.

The storm that arrived Monday night brought just over a quarter-inch of rain to Santa Rosa, Healdsburg and Cloverdale, weather service data show.

Petaluma got 0.17 inches, Rohnert Park got 0.34 and Bodega Bay got 0.31.

Further up the coast, a rain gauge near Salt Point State Park logged 0.69 inches, which was the highest Sonoma County rainfall total from the storm.

You can reach Staff Writer Matt Pera at matthew.pera@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @Matt__Pera.