Storm drops much-needed rain over parts of Bay Area
Much-needed rain fell over parts of the Bay Area on Saturday night and early Sunday morning, wetting the soils and briefly easing fire conditions in the North Bay and parts of the East Bay Hills.
Some much-needed rain fell over parts of the Bay Area on Saturday night and early Sunday morning, wetting the region’s soils and briefly easing fire conditions in the North Bay and parts of the East Bay Hills.
The storm, which moved ashore late Saturday night, brought with it a steady, light rain that came as a welcome sight amid deteriorating fire conditions across much of the Bay Area. Still, the precipitation was only expected to ease the threat of fire for a few days — perhaps a week — amid an ongoing historic drought that’s left much of Northern California parched and tinder-dry.
“We’re pleased with how it’s progressing and bringing a little bit of June rain into the Bay Area,” said Ryan Walburn, a National Weather Service meteorologist. “By June standards, it’s definitely been a nice little rainstorm.”
As of Sunday morning, the storm appeared to bypass the entire South Bay — instead, mainly hitting the East Bay and the North Bay, as well as San Francisco.
As of about 8 a.m. Sunday, downtown Oakland received .18 inches of rain, while San Francisco received about .15 inches of rain, according to the National Weather Service. Parts of the Oakland Hills received a quarter of an inch of rain. But only a few hundredths of an inch fell over most of Contra Costa County.
Most of the precipitation fell over the North Bay, where .52 inches was measured in Tiburon and .75 inches fell in Mill Valley. By far the heaviest rains were reported over Mt. Tamalpais, which received 2.33 inches of rain by about 8 a.m. Sunday.
The rain is expected to continue falling over parts of the Bay Area on Sunday, though it should move out of the region by the end of the day.
The wet weather came as fire crews managed to fully contain the Old Fire, which sparked on Tuesday in Napa County and grew to 570 acres. No structures were destroyed in the blaze, which may have been caused by a downed Pacific Gas & Electric electrical line.
Similar June storms aren’t uncommon for the Bay Area, with the much of the region typically receiving at least a tenth of an inch of rain this month. Yet with so much of the state mired in a historic drought, every bit of precipitation is critical to forestalling the worst of fire season, meteorologists say.
Nearly all of California — 98% of the state — is a severe drought, and about 60% of the state is experiencing extreme drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. Snowpack readings in the Sierra Nevada also are downright paltry, measuring at only 4% of normal for this time of year, according to the California Department of Water Resources.
Hot, dry conditions appear likely to return in just a few days. A ridge of high pressure is expected to make its way into the Bay Area and Northern California later this week, raising temperatures and drying out any vegetation that was moistened by this weekend’s storm.
Parts of the East Bay, including Oakland, should see temperatures rise into the high 70s by the middle of the week and into the 80s by Friday and the weekend, according to the National Weather Service. San Jose could see temperatures rise into the low 90s by week’s end, while inland areas of Contra Costa County could see temperatures swell into the high 90s by Friday and Saturday.
While this weekend’s storms should help ease fire conditions for a few days, the looming warm-up could spell the return of dangerous fire conditions, Walburn said.
The storm “gives us a couple days of reprieve, but it’ll be old news pretty much a week from now,” Walburn said.