Flood Warning: Sonoma County Gets Brunt Of Storm

SONOMA COUNTY, CA — Flooded roads were being closed Wednesday morning across Sonoma County as a big winter storm makes a major impact across the Bay Area. Sonoma County was being hit the hardest, as an Urban and Small Stream Flood Advisory was issued for the area by the National Weather Service.

The flood advisory for the county was extended through 10:30 a.m., while a flood warning for urban areas and small streams in Southeastern Sonoma County was expected to remain in effect until 10:45 p.m. Wednesday.

Meteorologists said some areas of Sonoma County have reached more than 1.5 inches of rainfall in the past 24 hours, with Venado in unincorporated Sonoma County leading the way with 3.64 inches as of 5:30 a.m., including 2.12 inches in the last 6 hours.

Sebastopol has seen 1.93 inches in the last 24 hours, and the Sonoma County Airport has 2.02 inches in that same timeframe.

"We actually are seeing those creeks rise across Sonoma County, especially the Russian River," said Roger Gass, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

Gass stressed the storm is just beginning and much more rainfall across the region is expected. The flooding risk in many more streams will increase Wednesday night into Thursday.

NWS reported that as of 9:30 a.m., gauges indicated flooding of many creeks across region, especially near Highway 116 and west of Highway 101. These creeks include Green Valley Creek, Mark West Creek, Colgan Creek, Willow Brook and other small streams draining into the main stem rivers. While heavy rainfall has temporarily diminished, rainfall later in the day will to result in additional water level rises through this evening.

"Some locations that will experience flooding include: Santa Rosa, Petaluma, Rohnert Park, Windsor, Sebastopol, Cotati, Roseland, South Santa Rosa Cdp, Larkfield-Wikiup, Forestville,
Guerneville, Graton and South Santa Rosa," according to the NWS flood warning.

Motorists are advised to: "Turn around, don`t drown when encountering flooded roads. Most flood deaths occur in vehicles."

According to Sonoma County officials, road closures as of 10 a.m. Wednesday included:

• San Antonio Road in Petaluma (Unincorporated)
• Green Valley Road in Sebastopol (Unincorporated)
• Mark West Station Road in Windsor (Unincorporated)
• Slusser Road in Santa Rosa (Unincorporated)
• Green Valley Road in Sebastopol (Unincorporated)
• Salmon Creek Road in Bodega
• Todd Road in Sebastopol (Unincorporated)
• Skillman Lane in Petaluma (Unincorporated)
• Eastside Road in Forestville
• Valley Ford Road in Bloomfield
• Rohnert Park Expressway in Rohnert Park (Unincorporated)
• Skylane Blvd in Santa Rosa (Unincorporated)
• Valley Ford Freestone Road in Valley Ford
• Valley Ford Road in Valley Ford
• Old Redwood Hwy in Santa Rosa (Unincorporated)

The County of Sonoma is updating a list of road closures at Roadconditions.sonoma-county.org/.

The highest wind gust in the area so far was recorded on Mount St. Helena, a 75 mph blast at 1:50 a.m. Wednesday.

RELATED WEATHER COVERAGE:

• City Of Healdsburg Says Flooding Possible, Opens Sandbag Station
• Flooding Of Napa River Forecasted By NWS
• Flooding Closes Multiple Petaluma Roadways
• Flood Warning Issued For Yolo, Solano Counties
• Atmospheric River Headed For Sonoma County, North Bay

Patch will update this post as more information is gathered; please refresh the page for the latest.

• Have weather photos from this morning? Share with Patch and your fellow readers by sending to maggie.avants@patch.com

By Bay City News Service and Patch local editor Maggie Avants

Photo credit: Renee Schiavone/Patch