Storm brings heavy rain to Sonoma County, more on the way

Sonoma County is in store for a stretch of steady rainfall weather experts believe will continue over the next few days, into the weekend.

Forecasters also predict potential flooding across the region, much like that which shut down area roads Tuesday morning.

Light rain may develop Wednesday night before consistent rainfall arrives Thursday night, lasting through Sunday.

“It could just hang out in the North Bay there,” Rick Canepa, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Bay Area office in Monterey, said Tuesday. “It could add up to serious amounts of rainfall if it keeps going.”

As much as 4 inches of precipitation is in the forecast for Sonoma County, according to Canepa, who added that while area precipitation could be “moderate at times,” it is expected to increase water levels in local rivers.

“We will be paying close attention to that,” he said.

By the time the rain develops Wednesday night, Sonoma County may still be recovering from previous rainfall that left low-lying roadways swelled with water Tuesday morning.

Road closures caused by flooding, included Slusser Road between River Road and Laughlin Road and Mark West Station Road between Starr Road and Old Vine Lane, both near Windsor.

Elsewhere, ponds of accumulated rainwater formed along rural roads and in local vineyards, while passing vehicles splashed puddles of water that had formed along Santa Rosa city streets.

The National Weather Service urged drivers to avoid crossing heavily flooded areas: “Turn around, don’t drown,” adding in a tweet that flooded roadways “are no joke.”

Still, drivers attempted to pass through some of the region’s flooded roads, resulting in at least one motorist becoming stuck on Mark West Station. Another driver was able to push the first driver to safety.

Kyle Dowell, 32, of Santa Rosa was driving his 2023 Toyota TRD Pro on Tuesday morning near the flooded area, when he decided to see the flooded intersection himself.

“I want to get in there with the truck,” he said with enthusiasm.

Seeing crews working on one end of the road, he was reluctant to drive through, but he ultimately decided to anyway, making it to the other side.

By Tuesday afternoon, Mark West Station was the only road closure related to the storm, according to a county database on road conditions.

The overnight storm, which began Monday and continued into Tuesday, brought 2 to 3 inches of rain to Santa Rosa, said Brian Garcia, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

Sonoma County recorded as much as 4.8 inches in the wettest areas, near Occidental.

According to National Weather Service data, Sonoma County rainfall for December may have already surpassed normal levels.

Normally, 5.89 inches is recorded at Charles M. Schulz-Sonoma County Airport through Dec. 27. Following the overnight storm, the current rainfall for December is closer to 7 inches.

Wind gusts, during the late Monday/early Tuesday deluge, reached up to 70 mph at Cobb Ridge in the Mayacamas Mountains, while Mount St. Helena experienced gusts up to 65 mph. Gusts reached up to 25 mph in the interior valleys.

“It was definitely windy. We had some reports of trees downed,” Garcia said.

There was also a recorded cloud-to-ground lightning strike in the northwest corner of Sonoma County near Venado at 7:39 a.m. Tuesday, he said.

Around 9 a.m., water levels at the Russian River were recorded at 7.6-feet deep, according to the California Nevada River Forecast Center. With more rain on the way, the river is expected to crest in Guerneville at 23 feet by late Saturday. The flood level for the Russian River there is 32 feet.

“I am so happy to see this rain,” said Pam Jeane, assistant general manager for water and wastewater at Sonoma Water, the region’s main drinking water provider. ”I feel much better than I did two days ago.”

Due to this most recent storm, Lake Sonoma gained more than 5,000-acre feet, while Lake Mendocino gained over 3,000-acre feet.

That’s enough rainwater in the two main reservoirs to provide water for an estimated 10,000 to 15,000 households a year, Jeane said.

But whether the storm made a dent in the drought “remains to be seen,” Jeane said.

“We’re in a really deep hole because of the drought, and it’s going to take more than one big storm to get out of the depths were in,” she said, adding that another set of big storm would be great news.

The late Monday/early Tuesday storm did not cause any major flooding in the streams Sonoma Water manages, including Santa Rosa Creek, though another large storm could be a cause for concern if the soil cannot absorb the water fast enough, Jeane added.

You can reach Staff Writer Alana Minkler at 707-526-8511 or alana.minkler@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @alana_minkler.

Editor’s note: This story has been revised to correct a misspelling in Pam Jeane’s last name.

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