October Storm Hammers Rain-Soaked Santa Cruz Mountains
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) – A warm October storm front rolled through the Bay Area Friday, targeting the Santa Cruz Mountains where some communities have seen as much as 10 inches of rain this month.
The National Weather Service said Loma Prieta had gotten 1.10 inches of rain by 7 a.m. while Ben Lomond had gotten 1.22 inches.
Heavy bands of showers were moving into the area with totals expected to increase by as much as 1-2 inches.
Over the weekend of Oct. 15, a storm front pummeled the same areas with Corralitos near Watsonville getting 9.7 inches of rain, Ben Lomond had 8.7 inches and Ormsby Road near the Loma fire epicenter had 9.3 inches of rain.
The showers have brought with them the threat of mudslides, particularly to the hillsides charred by the Loma and Soberanes wildfires.
The Loma Fire burned nearly 4,500 acres in Santa Clara County while the Soberanes Fire charred more than 132,000 acres in Monterey County.
Drew Coe, Cal Fire's forest practice program monitoring coordinator, said residents in those areas should keep an eye on their hillsides.
"It's all about how much coverage does the soil still have," Coe said. "If you see bare soil, the chances of your watersheds and hillsides for erosion is very much higher."
In the San Francisco and East Bay, the storm slowed the morning commute to a near crawl. By 7 a.m., the storm had dropped 0.78 of an inch on San Francisco with Oakland getting 0.68 of an inch. Mount Diablo reportedly had 1.21 inches.
In the North Bay, the storm had dumped an inch or more in areas from Santa Rosa to St.Helena.
The October rains have been a welcomed relief to the drought stricken area. Santa Rosa, for example, normally gets 2.04 inches of rain from July 1st to Oct. 27th. So far this year, the region has gotten nearly 5 inches of rain before Friday's storm.
Blue Canyon, a favorite spot for television news crews in the Sierra, generally has gotten 4.46 inches of rain during the July 1st to Oct. 27th time span. This year, it has gotten almost a foot of rain.
The storm was expected to linger in the region for much of Friday before heading East.
Forecasters said Saturday should be mostly clear with a storm – this one packed with cold air from the Gulf of Alaska – will hammer the region on Sunday.
A winter storm watch has been issued for the Sierra starting late Saturday night.
The snow level is predicted to drop to 6,000 feet with accumulations of 1-2 feet possible in the upper levels.
