A pummeling from the storms that have besieged the Bay Area began to calm just a bit Tuesday, much like a fighter punched out after landing blow after blow.
Nevertheless, some punches were coming Tuesday, too.
Powerful winds whipped the Bay Area overnight, exceeding 70 mph overnight in Los Gatos and hitting 69 mph at San Francisco International Airport. The National Weather Service also recorded hail in Monterey County early Tuesday amid forecast for the possibility of funnel clouds and/or tornadoes throughout the day.
White-out conditions whipped the Sierra Nevada amid a blizzard at its summit.
Yet, the full force of the latest atmospheric storm to hit the region was considerably less than 24 hours earlier, according to the weather service.
“Definitely the strongest winds that we’ll have were with that line of thunderstorms overnight,” NWS meteorologist Dalton Behringer said. “So you may still see some gusty winds with scattered thunderstorms through the day today but nothing widespread like we saw (earlier Tuesday) morning.”
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San Francisco flash flood warning
The weather service issued a flash flood warning for San Francisco that will be in effect until 3:30 p.m. Tuesday. Residents in the area were urged to take shelter and not travel.
Pea-sized hail fell in downtown San Francisco, and there were flashes of lightning to go along with thunder claps.
Widespread flooding, mudslides, rockslides, and the rapid rising of creeks, streams and rivers were expected, according to the weather service.
— Updated, 12:45 p.m.
Monterey County evacuation warning
The Spreckels community in Monterey County received an evacuation warning from the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office. The neighborhood runs approximately from the intersection of Highway 68 and Spreckels Boulevard. Residents there were told they must be prepared to leave with any items they can gather in case the warning is followed by an order.
The Carmel River Area was evacuated Monday.
— Updated, 12:35 p.m.
Road closures throughout Santa Clara County
More than a dozen roads in Santa Clara County remained closed Tuesday because of the destruction the storms left behind. Traffic signals at two major intersections on the San Tomas Expressway also were not working.
Some of the closed roads led to highways, and there was no estimate for when they would be open.
For the full list of the closures and the intersections without functioning traffic signals, click here.
— Updated, 11:45 a.m.
Largest storm response in Pacific Gas & Electric history
The brief spells without rain, and calmer winds may help Pacific Gas & Electric workers make progress on more than 190,000 of their customers who are without power in California. Of those, 75,808 were in the Bay Area.
Utility spokeswoman Tamar Sarkissian said PG&E had 5,000 workers in the field to deal with the storms, the largest storm response in its history. They came from as far north as Canada and as far east as Wisconsin.
That total number of Bay Area customers without power late Tuesday morning was down about 17,000 from the Bay Area’s high mark early Tuesday when slightly more than 92,000 customers were affected.
In the South Bay, 46,636 customers were without power. In the Peninsula, 15,520 were still awaiting a restoration. The North Bay had 6,198 customers without power; San Francisco had 3,909 and the East Bay had 3,545.
— Updated, 11:30 a.m.
Two South Bay high schools Tuesday
The power outages dotting the Bay Area caused Los Gatos and Saratoga high schools to be closed Tuesday, according to a statement from the Saratoga Union High School District.
School district officials said they did not have an estimated time when power would be restored and that the schools will not re-open until it is. The decision on whether school will be held Wednesday has not been determined.
— Updated, 9:45 a.m.
More than 90,000 Bay Area residents, customers without power
Pacific Gas & Electric workers continued to repair power outages early Tuesday, as 93,742 Bay Area residents and businesses were without it.
South Bay customers were suffering the most. PG&E said 52,911 customers in that area of the Bay had no power.
Also, 19,053 customers in the Peninsula; 8,221 in the East Bay; 7,414 in the North Bay; and 6,143 in San Francisco all needed to be restored.
— Updated, 9:15 a.m.
Rain, rain (won’t) go away
Meteorologist Jan Null, who has monitored the weather in the Bay Area for four decades, said the storms of the past two weeks have brought San Francisco its third-wettest 15-day period since 1849, when NWS records were first kept.
According to Null, 12.37 inches of rain fell from Dec. 26, 2021 to Jan. 9, 2023. That total is still more 5 inches shy of the all-time mark, set when 19.77 inches fell from Jan. 5-19, 1862, Null said. In 1866, 13.54 inches fell from Dec. 15-29.
— Updated 8:50 a.m.
Large power outages persisting
New power outages continued to pop up throughout the region, and it was unclear how much a dent PG&E could put into the 92,000 outages that affected residents and businesses early Tuesday.
One big outage happened in Union City and ran from Coyote Hills Regional Park north past Whipple Road to the Alameda Creek. That outage was affecting 5,059 customers.
Another outage on the utility’s map encompassed the San Jose State main campus and affected 2,829 customers.
“There are some scattered power outages on campus at this time,” SJSU spokeswoman Robin McElhatton said. “We are working on setting up a generator. The campus remains open and operational.”
— Updated 8:25 a.m.
The rain eased a bit overnight
The 24-hour rainfall totals released by the weather service at 7 a.m. showed the rainfall overnight was considerable less intense than the previous 24 hours.
The heaviest rainfall was in Orinda, where 2 1/2 inches fell. But areas that were deluged Monday night into Tuesday got some relief. Loma Prieta received about a half-inch, and Mount Umunhum and Ben Lomond were just under 1½ inches. Those areas in Santa Cruz County had received more than 3 inches of rain from Monday night into Tuesday, the leading figures in the region.
About a half-inch fell at San Francisco International Airport. Oakland International Airport received about four-tenths of an inch, as did San Jose.
— Updated 7:20 a.m.
Winter storm warning continues in the Sierra Nevada
A winter storm warming in the Sierra Nevada will remain in effect until 4 a.m. Wednesday, and heavy bands of snow are expected through at least 2 p.m. Tuesday. The weather service was reporting white-out conditions at the summit. Travel was expected to be very difficult to impossible, and authorities encouraged people to stay away.
— Updated 7 a.m.
Some flood warnings have expired
Several NWS flood warnings expired late Monday and early Tuesday, including in parts of the Santa Cruz coast, Santa Cruz Mountains and southern sections of Santa Clara County. The advisories remain in effect for parts of the Big Sur River and Salinas River.“A couple of rivers mostly south of the Bay Area were going to be getting a little more rain,” Behringer said. “Overall [rain totals] will be going down. Things will be subsiding today.”
— Updated 7 a.m.
Forecast for airport travel
Airports were optimistic that the weather would have only minimal impact on traveling.
The San Francisco International Airport was listing four cancellations into, out of, or within the United States early Tuesday, and another 36 had been delayed. There was only one cancellation and 14 delays at Oakland International Airport, and there were no cancellations at Mineta San Jose Airport. San Jose had 21 delays.
— Updated 6:45 a.m.
Trouble on the roads
Roadways continued to be saturated, and flooding problems popped up throughout freeways and major thoroughfares in the Bay Area.
Caltrans shut down Interstate 280 to Highway 87 because of flooding, according to the California Highway Patrol. They did not say when it would be re-opened.
Trees and power lines fell in Walnut Creek, causing authorities to close eastbound Ygnacio Valley Road between Homestead Road and San Carlos Drive, a stretch of about two miles. The bypass road connects central and east Contra Costa County and also leads to John Muir Medical Center.
— Updated 6:30 a.m.
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