SAN FRANCISCO — A powerful winter storm unleashed heavy rain and strong winds across Northern California on Wednesday, triggering evacuations and power outages, and heightening fears of widespread flooding and debris flows.
Pounding rain and winds battered the Bay Area and surrounding regions Wednesday evening, prompting scattered evacuations.
The moisture-rich atmospheric river — fed by a plume of subtropical water vapor at the lower and middle levels of the atmosphere — is expected to bring wind gusts up to 60 mph and more than 6 inches of rain in some parts of the Bay Area through Thursday. The Sacramento Valley can expect up to 4 inches of rain and some areas in the foothills could see up to 6 inches.
