SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A powerful winter storm that blasted Northern California with strong winds and heavy rain, knocking out power, toppling trees, including one that killed a toddler, and leading to flooding concerns that triggered evacuations will continue its march through the region Thursday.
Scattered showers will linger through the northern swath of the state as the atmospheric river — fed by a plume of subtropical water vapor at the lower and middle levels of the atmosphere — moves east. Forecasters are keeping watch over possible flooding as water continues to rise along creeks, streams and rivers.
“Several streams and creeks will likely exceed bankfull,” ahead of another storm system that’s expected to hit the area Saturday, according to a National Weather Service forecast.
Intense downpours — coming after an earlier deluge days ago — that lashed Northern California on Wednesday pushed some rivers toward flood stage, prompting a string of evacuations from towns along the Russian River to communities in Santa Cruz County and beyond.
The strong weather system also triggered high tides and massive waves along the coast, damaging piers in Capitola and Seacliff in Santa Cruz County. The Santa Cruz Wharf was evacuated Thursday morning as strong waves pummeled structure. Officials warned spectators to seek shelter.
“It is dangerous to be outside near the water watching the storm and waves at this time,” city officials wrote in a statement. “High winds could cause trees or tree limbs to fall unexpectedly.”
The weather service issued a high surf advisory for the section of coast north of Monterey Bay through early Friday, warning of waves up to 22 feet and hazardous ocean conditions.
The storm has already dumped 2 to 3 inches of rain across the San Francisco Bay Area, and isolated showers are expected to add to that total through Thursday evening.
Roughly an inch of rain fell over a 24-hour period across much of the Sacramento area as of early Thursday, less than forecasters initially expected. The rainfall mostly led to flooding in urban areas, though forecasters will continue to monitor river levels, said Scott Rowe, a lead meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Sacramento.
“It’s going to remain wet and unsettled for the coming days,” he said. “Through the weekend and next week we’re expecting at least two, three, possibly even more storms to be impacting Northern California, so it’s something we’re keeping a close eye on.”
Communities along swelling rivers continue to face the highest risk.
Sonoma County issued an evacuation warning for residents living near the Russian River, including those in Guerneville, Monte Rio, Rio Nido and downstream of Healdsburg.
Officials project the river in Guerneville could crest at 30 feet early Friday and may flood on Sunday as another storm moves into the area and runoff continues to pour into rivers, creeks and streams.
“We were anticipating a peak this morning, but the fact of the matter is we got a little less rainfall than we thought we were going to get out of this storm,” said Cindy Palmer, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in the Bay Area.
The Hopland area of the Russian River had exceeded flood stage as of Thursday morning, according to Brett Whitin, a hydrologist at the California Nevada River Forecast Center.
“It’s not as high as it was in the New Year’s Eve flood,” Whitin said. “It’s a lower-level type of flooding going on there.”
He said the forecast center is anticipating more severe flooding during the upcoming storms through the weekend and next week.
“The Sacramento River will definitely see some flood stages exceeded,” he said. “The Cosumnes River that had the levee breaks, that could see flood stage again next week. There’s that threat of exceeding flood stages at quite a few locations across the northern coast and the Sacramento valley system.”
Evacuation orders and warnings in some parts of Santa Cruz County were being eased Thursday morning. An evacuation order for Soquel was lifted, but evacuation orders or warnings remained in place for parts of Rio del Mar, Seacliff and Capitola, a popular tourist resort bisected by Soquel Creek.
In San Jose, authorities are closely watching possible flooding that could affect populated areas, including along Ross Creek at Cherry Avenue, Upper Penitencia Creek at Mabury and King roads, and Guadalupe River at West Alma Avenue. Elsewhere in Santa Clara County, officials issued evacuation warnings around the Pacheco Pass River Basin and Uvas Reservoir.
In Monterey County, the sheriff’s office ordered residents near the Carmel River Lagoon to evacuate Thursday morning amid flooding concerns.
In northwestern San Benito County, officials warned that high water levels might pour over a dam spillway. If the dam is overtopped by waters, flash flooding could occur in sparsely populated areas downstream, causing water levels to rapidly rise in Pacheco Creek near Lovers Lane.
Strong winds overnight were responsible for much of the damage reported. A 100-mph gust was reported in Marin County and winds in other areas surpassed 50 mph, meteorologists said.
The force of the wind left tens of thousands without power and knocked over a gas station canopy in South San Francisco. Thousands of Pacific Gas and Electric customers remain without power early Thursday and it is not clear when service will resume. Officials with the utility could not immediately be reached for comment.
At least two people, including a toddler, have been killed in the storm, according to law enforcement.
In Solano County, a 19-year-old woman died when she lost control of her car and hit a utility pole in heavy rain Wednesday morning. That evening, a 2-year-old boy was killed when a tree fell on his home in Occidental, a community in Sonoma County.
The brunt of the storm moved through Southern California early Thursday, but showers will continue through the day.
The cold front and heaviest rainfall moved through the Los Angeles area around midnight, dropping about 1 to 2 inches of rain at lower elevations and 2 to 5 inches of rain at higher elevations, meteorologists with the National Weather Service in Oxnard said.
Though the storm system passed hours earlier than expected, the region remained at risk of isolated thunderstorms, strong winds and flooding because of a cold air mass that has moved into the area in the storm’s wake, forecasters said. Officials expect at least 2 inches of additional rainfall.
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(Lin reported from Sacramento, and Fry reported from Los Angeles. Los Angeles Times staff writers Susanne Rust, Terry Castleman, Rong-Gong Lin II and Alexandra E. Petri contributed to this report.)
