Biggest Storm Of The Year Barrels Toward Bay Area

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — A series of cold winter storms are expected to drop snow levels across the Bay Area this week while bringing the heaviest rainfall in more than 12 months, according to the National Weather Service.

The region is expected to see rain Sunday through Friday with an atmospheric river triggering intense midweek rainfall — enough to down power lines and trigger mudslides in burn scar areas. Residents in the Santa Cruz mountain communities impacted by CZU Lightning Complex Fire may again face evacuation orders due to the threat of mudslides.

The storm from the Gulf of Alaska could bring between up to 4.5 inches of rain to the Bay Area and more than 6 inches to the mountains and Big Sur, the National Weather Service forecast. The local mountains and foothills including Mount Hamilton and Mount Diablo could also be blanketed with fresh powder as snow levels are expected to drop to 2,000 feet.

"The next system is forecast to be much stronger and wetter, and will produce periods of heavy rain from late Tuesday through late Thursday," the National Weather Service warned. "Rain totals with this midweek system are forecast to range from 2.5 to 4.5 inches at lower elevations, including urban areas, and from 4 to 7 inches in the hills and mountains. Expect up to 9 inches in the Santa Cruz Mountains and up to 11 inches in the Santa Lucia Mountains."

The storm is expected to batter the coast, as well, with gale-force winds.

Though the storms bring a risk of flooding, mudslides and dangerously slick roads, they also will bring much-needed moisture to a parched. California is in its second year of below-average rainfall and snow-pack well below normal. It's been more than a year since an atmospheric river brought a deluge like the one expected Tuesday and Wednesday.

“It’s quite a turnaround,” Brayden Murdock, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Monterey told the Mercury News. “We haven’t seen rain like this in the forecast for some time.”

The heaviest rainfall is expected to Wednesday with up to 3 inches of rain expected. It's been more than two years since the Bay Area saw more than two inches of rainfall in a single 24-hour period.