From more than a foot of snowfall in downtown Redding, to mudslides, roadway flooding and sinkholes marring the morning commute, the Bay Area and Northern California were walloped on Wednesday by a major atmospheric river that brought high winds and a downpour to already saturated soils.
KCBS Radio's Matt Bigler reported that a hillside in South San Jose along the Guadalupe River gave way this morning, resulting in a mudslide that sent rocks, trees and other debris onto Hicks Road. The road remains closed, while earth movers wait for the slide to stop moving so they can clear the damage.
Here’s video of the mud slide in S San Jose that is still sliding! There were several mini rock slides before and after I shot this. pic.twitter.com/jKOjK1CUy5
— Matt Bigler (@mattbigler740)
February 13, 2019 Sonoma County was particularly hard hit, with more than 3.5 inches of rain falling in western parts of the county, including Bodega Bay and Occidental. Conditions were expected to worsen throughout the day. An urban and small stream flood warning extended to 3:45 p.m. on Wednesday by the National Weather Service.
STORM UPDATE, per @NWSBayArea increase in rainfall over the North Bay this afternoon which will result in even greater flooding concern & possible thunderstorms. Stay away from creeks, do not drive through flooded road closures. Additional trees down possible w/ power outages. pic.twitter.com/FVYzSmh5CB
— Santa Rosa Fire Department (@SantaRosaFire)
February 13, 2019 There were several mudslides on Highway 1 north of Jenner, according to the Santa Rosa Press Democrat and 15 county roads had been closed due to flooding. In the southern portion of the county, a school bus driver and a special needs student became trapped on flooded Liberty Road, and had to wade through floodwaters to higher ground. An early morning mudslide on Mark West Road in North Santa Rosa also mucked up the morning rush for commuters.
Widespread flooding and water rescues were reported on Highway 116, as well. A flash flood watch and wind advisory for the county has been extended to 10 a.m. Thursday.
Widespread flooding reports along and west of Highway 116 in Sonoma county with water rescues underway! Please never drive into flooding roadways. #CAwx #Flooding #BayAreaWX
— NWS Bay Area (@NWSBayArea)
February 13, 2019 The Marin County Fire Department reported that Sir Francis Drake at Mt. Vision Road, in the rural town of Inverness, had become impassable to all except high clearance vehicles. Among dozens of reported road impacts due to flooding, Highway 1 south of Tomales-Petaluma Road and portions of San Antonio Road in Novato were closed to traffic.
Flight Delays and Cancellations
KCBS Radio's Jenna Lane has reported that air traffic controllers have been forced to re-direct planes at San Francisco International Airport, and that a ground delay program at Los Angeles International Airport was having ripple effects in the Bay Area.
The storm has been blamed for about a hundred flight cancellations and a nearly 3 hour average delay for arriving flights. Due to unusually strong winds out of the east, SFO reports that controllers have had to reconfigure the runway pattern for takeoff and landing in a way that is less efficient for managing traffic, resulting in additional delays.
Check with your airline carrier to confirm your flight status prior to flying today and tomorrow.
Unusual Snowfall
In Redding, an unusually large amount of snowfall — at least 10 inches — forced the closure of a section of I-5 and led to downed trees and power lines.
A rather extraordinary amount of low elevation snow has fallen in the far northern Sacramento Valley this morning. Widespread power outages and downed trees, along with huge travel disruptions, are occurring in a region where even a *dusting* of snow is unusual. #CAwx #Redding https://t.co/yfzFX50quV
— Daniel Swain (@Weather_West)
February 13, 2019 Jenna Lane, Matt Bigler, Curtiss Kim and Holly Quan contributed to this report.
Written by Jordan Bown.
