Stormy weather floods roadways, knocks out power for thousands

The Bay Area enjoyed a brief respite from the rain Friday afternoon after the latest storm battered the region in the early morning hours, knocking out power, tying up traffic and flooding some stretches of highway.

The heaviest rainfall has been recorded in the North Bay, according to a National Weather Service forecaster.

The storm system moved southeast through the Bay Area late Friday morning and is expected to soak the entire region for the rest of the day, forecaster Diana Henderson said.

In the past 24 hours, parts of Sonoma County saw more than 7.5 inches of rain while the Santa Cruz Mountains were deluged with 7 inches.

Areas in Napa County received nearly 6 inches, according to Henderson. Rainfall in the past day was recorded at 4.33 inches in Calistoga.

"It's not a superstorm by any measure, but this is pretty significant," Henderson said. "We should see periods of moderate to heavy rains."

With rain expected all weekend long, Tony Negro, a contractor from Penngrove, Calif., in Sonoma County, said Friday that he is worried about more flooding seeping inside his workshop.

"I'm on my way to get some sand bags," he said.

In downtown San Francisco, 1.44 inches of rain was recorded with an additional half inch measured at San Francisco International Airport, Henderson said.

Parts of the Peninsula and the South Bay received more rain, with 3.67 inches falling at Pescadero Creek, 4.88 inches in Loma Prieta and a 7.48 inches of measured rainfall at Mt. Umunhum.

Henderson said more severe weather is expected to affect the region's more mountainous areas and some areas along the coast.

Just before 11:30 a.m., an urban and small stream flood advisory was issued for all Bay Area counties until 2:30 p.m. because of many reports of flooded streets, highways, underpasses and small creeks.

A flash flood warning is in effect for the Monterey Bay area, while the rest of the Bay Area is under a flash flood watch through the weekend, Henderson said.

"It's a heads up basically that conditions are ripe," she said.

A wind advisory expired at 2 p.m. Friday afternoon for the San Francisco and Monterey Bay areas, with strongest winds expected along the coast.

Henderson said wind was more prevalent overnight. Gusts became more benign late Friday morning at about 10 mph, she said.

Because of the storm, the California Highway Patrol has reported an abundance of flooded roadways throughout the region Friday morning.

The National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning for Sonoma County where Highway 121 was closed by flooding near the Sonoma Creek. A sig-alert issued indicated the highway would remain closed due to flooding between CA-116 and Arnold Drive and 8th Street until at least 4:30 p.m. Friday afternoon.

Interstate Highway 580 in and around Livermore was particularly impacted by the storm.

Several lanes of eastbound I-580 were blocked for several hours starting at 11:13 p.m. after a collision between two tractor-trailers near Greenville Road that caught fire.

Later, a major big-rig accident on westbound I-580 in Pleasanton shut down traffic completely.

The big-rig driver lost control of his vehicle after hitting a puddle at around 2 a.m., skidding across all lanes and colliding with the center freeway barrier.

The CHP said the driver was uninjured, but the accident closed all westbound lanes for hours. The proximity to the 580/680 interchange allowed the CHP to detour drivers around the blockage, but coupled with the inclement weather traffic was backed up significantly.

Crews were in the final stages of cleaning up after the accident at 5:30 a.m. Lanes reopened at around 6:15 a.m.

However, a third trailer-rig crash in Livermore on westbound I-580 that left one of the vehicle's two trailers flipped on its back and blocking all but one lane of traffic shortly after 6 a.m. It was several hours before traffic returned to normal after lanes were reopened.

Elsewhere, three left lanes of southbound U.S. Highway 101 in San Francisco were blocked for nearly two hours by an injury accident near the Cesar Chavez Street off-ramp in San Francisco at about 2:49 a.m.

In the North Bay, a vehicle got stuck this morning at Ross Station Road at Ross Branch Road near Sebastopol, while other flooded roadways have been reported at Rohnert Park Expressway at Stony Point near Santa Rosa.

In Hayward, heavy flooding was reported along A Street this morning, while in Fairfield the westbound Interstate Highway 80 Air Base Parkway off-ramp was reportedly completely flooded.

Near Woodside, there was a foot of water reported on Interstate Highway 280 at Woodside Road.

In Sacramento, Interstate 5 south of downtown was blocked in both directions before 9 a.m. Friday after an empty big-rig jackknifed in the southbound lanes and struck the median divider, the CHP said.

"I would definitely say it's weather-related. The reports came in that he hit a water puddle and hydroplaned and couldn't correct," CHP Officer Mike Bradley said. "A lot of high-profile vehicles, especially the lighter ones, are getting windblown and having some problems maintaining their lane."

No one was injured in the crash on I-5, California's main north-south highway. But a second vehicle also was damaged and had to be towed, while workers contained and cleaned up diesel fuel spilled from the tractor-trailer.

In West Sacramento, police say wet conditions may have been a factor when a PG&E worker died after he lost control of his vehicle and slammed into a traffic pole shortly before 2 a.m. Friday.

PG&E workers at the scene tell KCRA-TV that the driver had been working overtime and was returning from Clarksburg in southern Sacramento County.

The weather also caused power outages throughout the region. As of 1 p.m., 5,100 customers in the Bay Area are still without power because of storm-related outages, according to PG&E officials.

In the North Bay, 2,200 customers were affected, while others impacted by the outages include 930 in the East Bay, 140 in San Francisco, 1,800 along the Peninsula, and 230 in the South Bay.

In the Santa Cruz Mountains, 1,400 customers were without power and an additional 1,300 customers were affected in Santa Cruz, San Benito and Monterey counties, according to the utility.

At its peak, the storm caused nearly 16,000 customers to lose power overnight in the Bay Area, according to PG&E officials.

At San Francisco International Airport, 60 flights -- 30 arrivals and 30 departures -- have been canceled this morning, airport duty manager Joe Walsh said.

The cancellations, which started early this morning, will continue to affect flights until about noon, Walsh said.

A delay program is in place at the airport until the end of the day, Walsh said.

He advised passengers check with their airlines before arriving at the airport.

In the East Bay, there has been only one flight canceled Friday morning out of Oakland International Airport, an airport operations employee said.

No flight delays have been reported there.

Mineta San Jose International Airport has no cancellations or delays because of the weather, airport spokeswoman Rosemary Barnes said.

The forecaster Henderson said steady rain is expected to fall through the end of the weekend.

Source: http://www.ktvu.com/news/news/local/storm-raises-havoc-morning-commute/nTJ54/

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