WEATHER SERVICE: Weekend Storm 'Like A Fire Hose That's Hard To Control'
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- A weekend 'atmospheric river' was taking aim at Northern California, bringing with it another round of rain showers for the Bay Area and heavy snow for the Sierra.
Weather Service Meteorologist Carolina Walbrun said it was still a little early to predict where the heaviest rain and snow will fall, but the next storm will carry a stronger punch than the storm that continued to move through the Bay Area on Wednesday.
Several inches of snow fell on the highest Bay Area peaks as steady overnight rain and hail left roadways throughout the Bay Area flooded, created chaos at local airports and blacked out thousands of homes.
The National Weather Service said 0.94 inches of rain fell by midnight in San Francisco, the wettest calendar day for the city since Valentine's Day 2019. By noon on Wednesday, that total had reached 1.12 inches.
Elsewhere, the storm dumped 1.73 inches of rain on Kentfield, 1.82 inches on Ben Lomond in the Santa Cruz Mountains, 1.22 inches in Soquel and 1.04 inches in Santa Rosa.
VIDEO: Cold Storm Front Dumps Snow On Bay Area's Diablo Range
"The (current) system is now moving south over us and we're still seeing some lingering showers from the cold air that's filtering in behind it," Walbrun said.
The new system was predicted to arrive on Saturday and linger for as long as next Tuesday.
"There will be more rain than we had with this previous one but we're uncertain where that rain is going to fall," Walbrun said. "It's like a fire hose that's hard to control. We don't know where it's going to aim."
The storm will also arrive in time to make for a difficult return home trip for thousands of Bay Area residents who have taken to the roadways for the Thanksgiving holiday.
They battled through snowbound highways in the Sierra and on I-5's Grapevine into the Los Angeles Basin on Tuesday and Wednesday. The drive home may be equally as challenging.
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