Atmospheric river rainfall floods homes, roads

“If you are in an Evacuation Order Zone quickly and calmly evacuate,” the agency said. The order applies to the following regions:

• South of Riverside Road; North of San Juan Road; East of Reiter Berry Farms; West of Murphy Crossing Road
• South of Pajaro River; North of the Union Pacific Railroad; East of Allison Road
• South of the Pajaro River; North of Matiasevich Lane; east of the Union Pacific Railroad; West of Allison Road
• South of Pajaro River; North of Salinas Road; East of Union Pacific Railroad; West de Salinas Road
• South of Bishop Street; North of Union Pacific Railroad; East of Allison Road; West of Union Pacific Railroad
• South of Pajaro River; North of Trafton Road; East of McGowan Road; West of Highway 1
• South of Pajaro River/McGowan Road; North of Bluff Road/Jensen Road; East of Pajaro River; West of Highway 1

Moderate rain bands will gradually clear out by 2 p.m. this afternoon, giving a brief break for residents dealing with floodwaters from the San Lorenzo river and nearby streams that are filled to the brim. Water levels will likely continue to rise as runoff from nearby roads and Highway 17 filters into the Santa Cruz Mountains. 

Another round of rain will then begin rolling in tonight after 8 p.m. This round will host isolated thunderstorms that will bring brief bursts of strong winds gusting to 50 mph and downpours between half an inch to three quarters of an inch. Because of their isolated nature, these thunderstorms will bring on-and-off rain to residents in the Santa Cruz Mountains, with dry-periods between each storm lasting anywhere from a few minutes to a couple of hours. These “garden-variety” thunderstorms will last through Tuesday morning.

As California continues to get battered by the latest atmospheric river, the next round of storms is already traveling across the Pacific towards the state’s coast, according to a post from the Bay Area National Weather Service. The post showed satellite imagery of lightning flashes due to arrive later tonight and Tuesday.

Heavy floods caused the Via del Sol Bridge to collapse, cutting off one pathway to Browns Valley Road, a private, one-lane artery linking small neighborhoods in the Santa Cruz Mountains. As of 10:30 a.m. Monday morning crews were headed out to a backup bridge, Las Colinas, a small span over a creek that also feeds into the Browns Valley area. Last week workers cleared debris from the channel to prevent it from flooding the banks, county spokesperson Jason Hoppin said, noting that crews will resume that cleanup effort today to protect surrounding homes.

Soquel Village in Santa Cruz County was inundated with water Monday morning, leaving several shops and restaurants with flood damage.

Business owners had stacked sandbags in doorways, most of them left from previous storms over recent weeks. Still, water seeped into buildings as people used brooms to fend it off.

The area remained under a mandatory evacuation order.

Residents in the Pajaro area who need transportation or medical treatment should go to the Pajaro Valley Golf Course at 967 Salinas Road, according to the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office.

Several homes and roads were under water in the Felton Grove area of the Santa Cruz Mountains as the San Lorenzo River spilled its banks Monday morning, inundated by relentless rain showers over the weekend.

About 16,095 Pacific Gas & Electric customers in the Bay Area are without power as of Monday 9 a.m., according to PG&E spokesperson Tamar Sarkissian.

Affected customers include:

• 8,413 in the North Bay
• 4,771 in the Peninsula
• 2,076 in the East Bay
• 748 in the South Bay
• 87 in San Francisco

Heavy downpours are set to persist through 10 a.m. in the South Bay and Santa Cruz Mountains as the atmospheric river dips south into the Central Coast. This system will continue its march into the Big Sur coast this afternoon, giving a chance for Bay Area residents to pick up from wind damage last night and for water levels to stabilize in rivers and streams in the region.

This includes the high water levels in the Santa Cruz Mountains, where extreme flooding from high rainfall rates overnight caused the San Lorenzo River.

More heavy rain will arrive to the Bay Area after midnight and into early Tuesday morning. raising the risk for moderate downpours and additional strains on burn scars and rivers in the region that are already filled to the brim with water. These rain bands will persist through late Tuesday morning and hang over the Santa Cruz Mountains until the early afternoon hours before finally exiting Northern California and the Central Coast by mid-afternoon.

The California Highway Patrol in Santa Cruz said Monday morning they were preparing for an “emergency closure” of Highway 1 at River Street to remove a log jam piling up at the freeway overcrossing, where the San Lorenzo River continues to flood. The No. 2 northbound lane on Highway 1, south of River Street, will be closed. It was not immediately known how long the highway will be closed.

A second round of thunderstorms is headed for the Bay Area late tonight and into early Tuesday morning. This instability will raise another slight risk for waterspouts and weak tornadoes on the coast, San Francisco Bay and portions of the Peninsula. While brief, these spin ups would cause local wind damage to property. The risk will drop off by mid-morning on Tuesday.

A flood advisory for a large swath of the Bay Area — including San Francisco, the Peninsula, the South Bay and East Bay — is in effect until 10 a.m. Monday. People should expect flooding on highways, streets and underpasses, the National Weather Service said.

Episodic bursts of isolated thunderstorms be possible on the coast from the Peninsula into Monterey Bay this morning, with instability raising the risk for isolated landspouts and weak tornadoes. The high energy off this storm’s strong winds and instability will remain mostly off the coast as it dips south into Monterey Bay and the Big Sur Coast this afternoon, but that will translate into a slight risk for waterspouts that could briefly come ashore. This risk will drop off on the Peninsula by the early afternoon and clear out by Monday night on the Central Coast.

President Biden has approved federal disaster assistance for California, the Federal Emergency Management Agency announced Monday. Gov. Gavin Newsom had requested the aid Sunday, saying an emergency declaration would unlock the “full support of the federal government” for the state as it faces major storms this week bringing more flooding, landslides and power failures after last week’s deadly bomb cyclone deluge. The aid will supplement state, local and tribal response efforts to emergency conditions resulting from the winter storms, flooding and mudslides starting Jan. 8 and going forward, FEMA officials said in a news release.

FEMA is authorized to coordinate disaster relief and prevention efforts in El Dorado, Los Angeles, Mariposa, Mendocino, Merced, Monterey, Napa, Placer, Riverside, Sacramento, San Bernardino, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Sonoma, Stanislaus and Ventura counties.

All 13 schools in the Cotati-Rohnert Park Unified School District were closed Monday due to the heavy rain and flooding caused by the storm, according to district officials. “We will continue (to) monitor the conditions and keep our families updated with any new information,” school district officials said.

Last night’s extensive rainfall, especially west of Highway 17, has helped to raise the San Lorenzo river to its major flood stage. Runoff from previous storms is also playing a role in amplifying water levels in rivers and streams across the Santa Cruz Mountains as water levels in creeks rise and runoff makes it to the coast.

The risk for both mountain and coastal flooding has prompted the National Weather Service has issued a flood warning for Santa Cruz County until 9:45 a.m.

BART trains will be running slower by about 20 minutes due to Monday’s storm, according to a tweet from the agency’s @sfbartalert account. Riders were advised to factor delays into their travel time and use the official BART app for real-time departure schedules. 

Several homes and roads were under water in the Felton Grove area of the Santa Cruz Mountains on Monday morning as the San Lorenzo River spilled its banks.

Evacuations of areas along the river in Felton and Santa Cruz began over the weekend.

Due to intense rainfall in the region, the San Lorenzo River hit flood stage earlier than forecast and was continuing to rise Monday.

“Heavy rain and high winds overnight means flooded streets, downed trees and other debris on the roads,” said the San Francisco Department of Emergency Management, urging people to “avoid travel if you can.” Drivers should use “extreme caution” when driving through flood areas and standing water, as one foot of moving water can sweep a car away, DEM said.

The list of highway closures continued to grow Monday Morning as a second atmospheric river storm slammed the Bay Area and Northern California. Here are the additional closures, according to CalTrans:

• SR-88 was closed at Peddler Hill, Carson Pass & Carson Spur due to heavy snow, with no estimated time of reopening, CalTrans said. Chains are required in the Sierra, & all non-essential is highly discouraged.
• Highway 70 was closed from Feather River Canyon between Jarbo Gap in Butte County and the SR89 junction at Greenville Wye in Plumas County due to flooding and slides. There was no estimated time of reopening and motorists were advised to use alternate routes, CalTrans said.
• The Wilson Way on-ramp in Stockton to eastbound SR-4/Crosstown Fwy was closed due to flooding, CalTrans said. No estimated time of reopening was available.

An atmospheric river is a band of moisture that transports large amounts of water through the atmosphere, producing heavy rain and snow. A bomb cyclone is a storm that rapidly intensifies over a 24-hour period and can produce strong winds, intense rain and snowfall. Such a storm made landfall last week. The current system is an atmospheric river storm, which being propelled by an extensive plume of sub-tropical moisture streaming in from the Pacific.

The city of Morgan Hill advised residents to stay home and avoid the “significant” flooding swamping several streets.

Flooding was particularly severe “near Little Llagas and Fisher Creeks,” the city tweeted.

“It is critical that for all those west of Monterey Road, if you can avoid driving and stay home, please do.”

Rescue teams freed a driver caught in the flooded intersection of Graham Hill Road and Mount Hermon Road in Felton in Santa Cruz County Monday morning. Several roads and highways in the Santa Cruz Mountains remain impassable or closed due to high water.

The National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning for the region until 9:45 a.m. Residents are advised to stay off the roads if possible.

This storm could give the Bay Area 2 to 4 inches of rain across the lower elevations. In the higher elevations, like the East Bay hills, mid-Peninsula hills, North Bay mountains and South Bay hills, 3 to 6 inches of rain could fall. The Santa Cruz Mountains could receive the most, up to 9 inches.

In the North Bay, by Monday afternoon or evening, the Napa River at Napa and at St. Helena could reach monitor stage. The Russian River at Healdsburg could reach monitor stage, and the Russian River at Guerneville could reach flood stage Monday evening. In the South Bay, the Guadalupe River near Almaden Expressway could reach monitor stage Monday afternoon. In addition to downpours, strong, gusty winds are possible in the Bay Area.

The strongest winds impacted the Bay Area overnight. Around 4 a.m. Monday, strong winds could still gust up to 40 to 50 mph, mainly for ocean-facing mountains in the North Bay and the Santa Cruz Mountains. By 7 a.m. the winds could still be gusty from the south, between 30 and 40 mph. Even though the gusts are not expected to be as strong during the day, they could still reach 35 mph. Sustained winds will blow from the south between 20 and 30 mph.

The California State Parks Twitter account on Sunday evening that people should “postpone your recreational activities for another time” because of the dangerous weather. 

A flood warning was issued for Monday along the Guadalupe River above Almaden Expressway in San Jose. Forecasters said the river would rapidly rise to flood stage of 9.5 feet by 9 a.m., and crest another two feet higher late Monday afternoon. 

About 13,000 Sonoma County residents from Healdsburg to Jenner were under an evacuation warning because the Russian River was expected to overtop its banks in coming days, the Associated Press reported. Forecasters said the river could reach flood stage Monday evening at Guerneville.

To the northeast of the Bay Area in Sacramento County, residents of the farm community of Wilton — where a levee break on New Year’s Eve flooded Highway 99, stranded fleeing motorists and led to several deaths — ordered to leave the area Sunday evening again because of imminent flooding risk.

The Sacramento County Office of Emergency Services warned that rising water could spill over onto roads and cut off access for people trying to leave the area.

“Don’t wait for an evacuation order,” the agency said. 

Evacuation warnings were issued Sunday in flood risk areas, including in Santa Clara County for residents in specific watershed areas of the Uvas Reservoir and Pacheco Pass River Basin.

In unincorporated Santa Cruz County, officials issued evacuation warnings for people in at-risk areas, including near Boulder Creek, Felton and Soquel, and along the Pajaro River. In Alameda County, officials recommended that residents near Sunol living on Kilkare Road, Palomares Road and Niles Canyon leave ahead of the storms and find shelter.