From hurricane force winds along the California coast to the small chance of a tornado touching down in parts of the Bay Area, the National Weather Service sounded some unusual alarms for the region on Sunday as an atmospheric river ripped through a large swath of the state.
While the rain and flooding wasn’t as severe as predicted, the high winds and heavy rains downed trees and power lines, causing road closures and power outages for tens of thousands of Bay Area residents.
“The winds are the main hazard with this system,” said Sarah McCorkle, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. “They’re shaping up to be pretty bad.”
The National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center warned of the slight possibility of a tornado on Sunday afternoon somewhere between San Francisco and Monterey.
The winds caused massive delays at San Francisco International Airport, averaging more than four hours by early afternoon. By 2:30 p.m., 155 flights leaving SFO were delayed and 69 had been canceled, according to the tracking website FlightAware. Mineta San Jose International Airport also saw impacts with 26 flights delayed and 14 canceled.
In San Jose, an enormous tree fell on a townhome on Rocky Creek Court, crushing the garage, and ferocious winds wreaked havoc downtown. In Alameda, a firefighters and the Coast Guard responded to a boat in distress of the island’s shore. In Monterey, wind gusts as high as 92 mph were recorded.
As high winds knocked down power lines, the number of people in the Bay Area without power grew throughout the afternoon. By 6 p.m., 132,983 customers were without power in Santa Clara County, according to PG&E’s outages map. 71,231 were impacted in San Mateo County, 33,397 in Santa Cruz County, 20,411 in Alameda County, 20,411 in Contra Costa County and 18,948 in San Francisco.
The heaviest bands of rain fell along the coast, from Mt. Tamalpais to the Santa Cruz mountains. Downtown San Jose, by Sunday morning saw only .67 inches of rain, whereas upwards of 4 inches fell in the Big Sur region.
Water levels on the Guadalupe River through San Jose was expected to peak at 11 feet, nearly two feet above flood stage. Instead, by 2 p.m the river was only at 7 feet and beginning to decline.
Despite the river not reaching predicted levels, San Jose Fired Department rescued several individuals and dogs from an island in the Guadalupe.
#SJFD crews successfully rescued several individuals and dogs from a rapidly diminishing island in the Guadalupe River. Great job by our first responders to keep our community members safe in challenging conditions. #SanJose pic.twitter.com/3IYAr8LEeh
— San José Fire Dept. (@SJFD) February 5, 2024
Residents from San Jose to the Monterey coast were warned to hunker down on Saturday. San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan declared a local state of emergency and warned unhoused people living along the Guadalupe River to evacuate. In Monterey County, evacuations were ordered for residents along parts of the Carmel River and in a Salinas neighborhood. The National Weather Service’s Monterey office issued its first ever hurricane force wind for the central coast.
While rain and some strong winds are still expected overnight, National Weather Service meteorologist Crystal Oudit said the forecast will start to improve on Monday, though Bay Area residents should expect more rain.
“Things kind of get back to status quo on Tuesday,” Oudit said.
