Storm dumps up to 20 inches of rain on parts of Sonoma County with two more storms on the way

This monster storm, winding down now after more than two days of torrential rain, so far has dropped more than 20 inches of rain in the hills west of Healdsburg and 5-9 inches in numerous Sonoma County cities and communities.

Although on its way out, showers will continue Wednesday bringing minor amounts of rain. However the area still has a flood watch notice until 4 a.m. Thursday and a flood warning until about 5 p.m. Wednesday due to the amount of runoff flooding large sections of the county and overflowing the Russian River and area creeks and streams. The Russian River should start dropping after its peak Thursday night and flood waters will recede.

The sky should be dry Thursday into Friday but the next storm is due late Friday night bringing about ¼ inch to Santa Rosa, then more rain Saturday and a chance of showers into Sunday. Monday should be mostly sunny and rain could return Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service.

Tuesday's storm should be another atmospheric river, bringing a potential of heavy rain. But meteorologists suspect its aim will be south of the Bay Area.

This storm and an earlier February series of storms have been atmospheric river events that stalled over the North Bay. This round, storm totals for the first 48 hours showed significant tallies, including different parts of Santa Rosa getting from 3 to nearly 9 inches. Several west county areas have had more than 7-8 inches and south and east county areas have had more than 5 inches.

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