More Storms Stalk Napa County; Flood Watch, Wind Advisory Issued

NAPA COUNTY, CA — After a brief pause, a relentless parade of atmospheric river-fueled storms is expected to bring another impactful storm starting this weekend to Napa County and the Bay Area.

A National Weather Service advisory said the new series of storms is likely to bring more staggering precipitation numbers to a region that is already soaked. The weather service issued a flood watch that takes effect at 4 a.m. Saturday and continues through 4 p.m. Tuesday for Coastal North Bay, including Point Reyes National Seashore, Marin coastal range, North Bay interior mountains, North Bay interior valleys, and the Sonoma coastal range.

The next wave of storms is estimated to continue through Jan. 19, according to the NWS. Napa Valley is expected to see rain for 10 straight days starting Saturday.

Rainfall totals over the weekend will generally be widespread 1-2 inch rainfall totals in the lower elevations with 2-4 inches in the North Bay and coastal mountains while the wettest peaks of the North Bay, could see up to 6 inches of rain, the weather service said.

A more potent atmospheric river will bring heavy rain early Monday through Tuesday. Rainfall totals early next week will generally be widespread 2-4 inch rainfall totals in the lower elevations with 3-6 inches in the North Bay and coastal mountains while the wettest peaks of the North Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains, and Santa Lucia Mountains, could see up to 10 inches of rain.

"Given the saturated soils and recent rains we can expect rapid responses on all streams and
creeks with quick rises on the mainstem rivers, resulting in widespread flooding," the weather service said. "Mainstem flooding is most likely Monday and Tuesday. This system will result in an increased risk of mudslides and debris flows across the region."

The new series of storms follows an atmospheric river-fueled “bomb cyclone” earlier this week that killed at least two people including a toddler and caused widespread flooding and property damage throughout the Bay Area. Winds associated with the storm topped out at 85 mph in Marin County.

"As the overall wet pattern remains locked in place over the West Coast, the next surge of moisture to move inland is forecast to enter northern California and southwest Oregon late Friday," the NWS advisory said.

"Rainfall could become hazardous and lead to scattered instances of flash flooding over the coastal ranges of northern California," the weather service said. "The consistent stream of moisture being funneled out of the tropical Pacific will continue into Saturday and gradually expand into more central portions of the state."

The pattern is likely to persist beyond the seven-day projection for an additional seven-day period in which "several more impactful atmospheric river events are expected," the NWS bulletin said.

Napa Flood Gates

The City of Napa and the Napa County Flood District on Thursday reopened the Oxbow Bypass flood gates at McKinstry Street but remain prepared to close them again if necessary to protect from flooding.

The weather service expects the Napa River to reach "monitor stage" by Monday evening in Napa and by Monday afternoon in St. Helena.

The Flood District staff will continue to monitor the forecasts, as the Napa River is expected to approach the activation level for closing the flood gates sometime on Sunday. There is also the potential the Napa River may exceed the activation level sometime on Tuesday. As of the time of this post, Flood District staff planned to close the gates Saturday, Jan. 7, in preparation of the forecasted increase in river level from Sunday through Tuesday.

Storm-Related Outages

As of 10 a.m. Friday, there were 645 customers without power in Napa County.

Pacific Gas & Electric reported that over the 24-hour period ending at 3 p.m. Thursday, the utility safely restored power to more than 406,000 customers across Northern California. There were still approximately 2,300 outages affecting 95,500 customers, with many in the North Coast, Bay Area and Central Coast areas.

"PG&E recognizes the urgency of restoring power and will work diligently until all customers are restored," the utility said in an emailed update.

Hazards such as fallen trees, floods and debris flows have made gaining access difficult in some areas and could delay power restoration efforts, PG&E said. Additional storms are forecast over the coming week, which will likely also impact restoration times and lead to additional widespread outages.

"I’d like to recognize the thousands of dedicated professionals out there working tirelessly to get the lights back on for our hometowns," said Janisse Quiñones, PG&E's senior vice president of Electric Operations.

"Our crews are out in full force restoring customers safely and as quickly as possible," Quiñones said. "We are conducting assessments of damage and prioritizing repairs with a focus on critical facilities and resolving outages that are impacting the largest number of customers. We have a short window of time to make as much progress as we can before the next weather system in this series of storms enters our service area over the weekend."

Napa County Storm Information: Where To Find The Latest

• For real-time rainfall accumulations, One Rain
• For the most updated National Weather Service information
• Register for Nixle by Everbridge app and other Napa County alerts to receive messages for the latest forecast and expected impacts
• Keep up-to-date on power outages by visiting PG&E
• For sandbag locations
• For more information on flood safety, visit Napa County's Flood Preparedness information
• To see the latest Caltrans road closures
• Napa County Public Information Call Center: 707-253-4540

READ MORE: Storms Pause As California Braces For More Rain, Wind, Flooding

For updated forecasts visit AccuWeather