More rain is in the forecast early this week after a brief reprieve Sunday, but dryer weather is expected to return for much of the region by Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service.
About an inch of rain is expected to fall on the East Bay, San Francisco Peninsula and South Bay and up to two inches expected in Napa, Santa Rosa and San Rafael starting Sunday evening into Tuesday according to NWS forecasts.
Strong winds and up to 3 inches of rain are in the forecast for Monterey, Santa Cruz, Boulder Creek and Corralitos, NWS said in an update Sunday. The agency also warned of minor nuisance flooding in those areas.
“The real chance for the heavier stuff is Monday and Tuesday, but not like what we went through Friday,” said meteorologist Dylan Flynn, with the National Weather Service’s Monterey office. “We may end up with a similar amount of rain as Friday, but that’s spread out over two days.”
Skies are expected to clear across the region leading up to Thanksgiving Day, Flynn said, noting the main concern is for people traveling by car for the holiday, particularly along the Central Coast and Sierra Mountains.
“Monday and Tuesday will be messy travel days, especially with the extra holiday traffic, so take it easy and make sure your windshield wipers are good,” Flynn said.
The forecast comes after record breaking rainfall drenched the region for days. The atmospheric river, a long trail of tropical vapors that dump on land once in cooler regions, prompted an uncharacteristic flash flood warning in the East Bay, a landslide in Berkeley, and downed trees in the Oakland Hills, Orinda, Los Altos and San Mateo that caused power outages and traffic delays.
More than 12 inches of rain fell on downtown Santa Rosa over a 72-hour period, breaking a century-old record set in 1902. Nearly 3 inches of rain blanketed downtown San Francisco on Friday, breaking a record set 150 years ago. San Jose also broke a record set on Nov. 22, 1964, last week with the 0.72 inches of rain it recorded.