String of crashes, power outages as light rain dampens Sonoma County

Monday's early-season rainfall, the first storm since May, was light but enough to dampen roadways and become a factor in several crashes, including a predawn fatal SUV rollover in the hills above Sonoma Valley.

The crash killed a 25‑year‑old Arizona woman who wasn't wearing a seat belt and was thrown through a window broken as the vehicle overturned, the CHP said Monday.

Santa Rosa police responded to a total of 10 crashes from midnight to late Monday morning. None involved major injuries, and officers found a common theme with the cause: speed and not adjusting driving habits for the wet conditions, said Santa Rosa traffic Sgt. Summer Gloeckner.

The short‑lived storm left 0.04 inches to 0.11 inches in rain gauges from the Santa Rosa Plain up into the county's hills. The rain also caused power equipment issues, knocking out electricity to almost 4,000 PG&E customers throughout Sonoma County.

About 3,360 of those were Santa Rosa customers who lost power due to a short circuit in an insulator on the east side of town, said Deanna Contreras, spokeswoman for PG&E. Such shorts are infrequent, Contreras said, but tend to happen in late summer and early fall when first rains mix with dust and dirt on equipment.

Most had power again by 7 a.m. and everyone was back on line Monday afternoon, Contreras said.

Monday's rain was the first since May 26, when 0.11 inches fell. September isn't normally a wet month, with an average rainfall of 0.11 inches. The rainiest Sept. 16 on record in Santa Rosa was in 2015 with 0.41 inches.

This brief front, gone as the work day got underway, brought slight relief to parched gardens, especially after last week's heat wave, which included a high of 97 degrees Friday in Santa Rosa.

'It was a nice September little system going on through the area,' said Scott Rowe, meteorologist with the National Weather Service. 'We'll take it.'

Rain could return late Tuesday night into Wednesday, but that system is tracking north and Rowe said Santa Rosa could be the southernmost area of its path. Rainfall amounts were expected to be similar or less.

Daytime temperatures should climb later in the week, reaching 85 degrees in Santa Rosa on Friday and 86 on Saturday.

Before dawn Monday, the woman killed in the crash had been traveling with four others on the rural Mayacamas Mountain route, headed from Napa County toward Sonoma County.

The CHP still is investigating Monday's crash but said the cause appeared to be that the driver, Lauro Felix‑Quintana, 40, of Windsor was going too fast for the wet conditions and lost control.

The 2003 Chevrolet Suburban ran off the road and down a hill.

The other four were belted. The driver wasn't hurt and passengers Aramiz Rojo, 46, Gernando Gonzalez, 45, and Ricardo Vargas Arieta, 29, all of Santa Rosa, had minor injuries and were taken to Queen of the Valley Medical Center in Napa.

The woman who dies in the crash was a resident of Bullhead, Arizona. The Napa County Coroner's Office was still notifying her family, so authorities withheld her name.

Sonoma Valley and Cal Fire firefighters responded along with the CHP.

You can reach Staff Writer Randi Rossmann at 707‑521-5412 or randi.rossmann@pressdemocrat.com.