Flooded Highway 37 closed for three miles in Novato

The storm lightened by Monday, leaving in its wake lingering showers, damaged roads and occasional reports of trees falling, in some cases taking down power lines.|

About three miles of Highway 37 flooded by winter’s rainy onslaught between Highway 101 and Atherton Avenue were expected to remain closed again for several days until the water recedes, officials said.

As much as five feet of water covered portions of the highway’s westernmost stretch through what historically was a tidal marsh area between Deer Island Preserve and the Bel Marin Keys in Novato and northern Marin County.

Officers were directing drivers heading east toward Napa to exit Highway 101 at Atherton Avenue for a three mile detour that reconnects with Highway 37 near the StoneTree Golf Club, CHP Officer Andrew Barclay said.

The atypically wet winter, with nearly double the total rainfall as normal to date, has saturated the ground and filled waterways. Intense downpours over the weekend further inundated Novato Creek, which has nowhere else to drain until water across the marsh area near the San Pablo Bay’s shoreline begins to recede, National Weather Service hydrologist Mark Strudley said.

“Drainage networks couldn’t keep up with the storm,” Strudley said.

A flood warning remained in place Monday for Mark West Creek in the lowlands between the Sonoma County Charles M. Schulz Airport and the creek’s entry into the Russian River.

The flooded creek “is not going to come down sufficiently until the Russian River comes down,” Mark Strudley, hydrologist with the National Weather Service, said Monday. “It will remain high with moderate to minor flooding conditions for at least the next day.”

At least one pickup driver ignored road closure signs Monday morning and drove onto the flooded eastbound lane of Highway 37 - estimated to be three feet under water in some areas, Barclay said. An officer pulled him over and gave him a ticket. The water was estimated at five feet deep on the westbound lane, Barclay said.

CalTrans crews were preparing to pump water out of the area once the water begins receding. But on Monday morning, there was “nowhere to pump it,” Barclay said.

Barclay said it’s important that vehicles stay off the roadway so they do not damage hoses or other equipment.

Several other apparently impatient drivers were given tickets after they tried to skirt traffic waiting to exit onto Atherton, and drove onto the shoulder, Barclay said.

“They got stopped,” Barclay said. “We wrote a significant number of tickets this morning.”

Trenton-Healdsburg Road was closed due to flooding, according to the Sonoma County roads department. Several roads shut down over the weekend by mud slides remained closed Monday, including Mill Creek Road just west of Healdsburg and Hot Springs Road in Cloverdale.

The storm lightened by Monday, leaving in its wake lingering showers, damaged roads and occasional reports of trees falling, in some cases taking down power lines.

A fallen tree knocked out power Monday for about 2,800 customers from northern Santa Rosa to southern Windsor, including the Sonoma County Charles M. Schulz Airport, delaying one flight, according to PG&E and airport officials.

Backup generators kept the control tower, runway and landing systems powered during the hour-long power failure, which began about 11:45 a.m. and ended about 12:50 p.m., airport manager Jon Stout said.

A 12:55 p.m. flight to Portland was delayed during the power loss because Alaska Airlines couldn’t check people in who didn’t already have a boarding pass. But other flights continued as planned. A 12 p.m. flight departing from San Diego and a 12:15 p.m. arrival from San Diego kept to schedule, Stout said.

Stout said it was the airport’s first power loss this winter so far, “surprising, given that it was relatively clear today.”

PG&E spokeswoman Deanna Contreras said the oak tree fell onto power lines near Old Redwood Highway and Cardinal Newman High School.

Forecasts call for sunny skies to return to the North Coast this week, giving the region a chance to recover from the weekend’s deluge of wind and rain. Skies should clear by Tuesday afternoon and temperatures will rise into the mid 50s, National Weather Service meteorologist Brian Mejia said.

A slight chance of rain was expected to return Thursday with a weak storm bringing a 20- to 30-percent chance of precipitation, Mejia said.

Winter has brought 37.28 inches of rain between Oct. 1 and Jan. 22 to Santa Rosa, close to double the 19.42 inches considered “normal” for the same time frame, according to Mejia.

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