Storm drops up to 8 inches of rain on Sonoma County, swamping roads, closing schools

Heavy rains pummeled the North Bay overnight, dropping 3 to 6 inches over the 24-hour period that ended at 6 a.m. on Thursday, with more expected to come through Sunday, the National Weather Service reported.

“It’s going to be a wet weekend,” said NWS meteorologist Spencer Tangen. Scattered showers were expected through Sunday morning, with thunderstorms possible.

Morning commuters encountered flooding on major roadways, including flood-prone areas along northbound Highway 121 through Sonoma Valley and Highway 12 in the same area. Those using Highway 116 to connect to Highway 101 in the Petaluma saw flooding, too, but local dispatchers reported no accidents or other heavily trafficked areas impeded by the storm.

The weather service issued a flood warning for all of Sonoma County through Thursday afternoon.

The Sonoma County Office of Education reported the closure of four districts on Thursday because of road flooding. The closed districts are Alexander Valley, Dunham Elementary, Geyersville and Guerneville.

Sonoma County reported 33 full or partial road closures due to flooding.

South Fitch Mountain Road in Healdsburg is still closed because of flooding and slides, as well as Sanford Road between Occidental Road and Hall Road in Santa Rosa.

Lytton Station Road in Guerneville and Stony Point Road in Petaluma are also closed because of heavy flooding.

Sonoma County’s juvenile detention camp in Forestville was evacuated on Thursday morning as a precautionary measure, according to Briana Khan, a county spokeswoman.

About 15 juveniles and two staff members were moved to another site until the storm passes because of possible flooding around the camp, Kahn said.

The lower Russian River was expected to flood near Guerneville. It had already hit 32 feet at 11 a.m. on Thursday and was projected to crest at 36 feet by midnight Friday morning. Flood stage is 32 feet.

“It has reached the moderate flood stage and will remain there even though the worst of the storm has passed,” Tangen said.

The latest forecast represents a significant downgrade from projections as recent as Wednesday morning, when forecasters were calling for river levels as high as 40 feet in Guerneville, which would have led to moderate-to-major flooding.

Guerneville resident Harold Lackey was strolling along the Historic Truss Bridge near downtown with a cup of coffee Thursday morning.

“I am not worried at all about the flooding,” said Lackey, 64, who was wearing navy rain boots. “The river is doing what the river does and unfortunately it’s the nature of living in the North Bay.”

Low-lying area of Guerneville, including small parks and picnic areas, were under water Thursday, but the flood levels were not enough to raise alarms, said Lieutenant Michael Raasch of the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office. He was at the Guerneville substation early Thursday to provide backup resources if necessary.

Raasch’s main concern is the risk of falling trees as the ground gets more saturated.

“With storms like this you can predict a lot, but the thing you can’t predict are the trees,” Raasch said. “When you have this much rain the roots of the redwoods and oaks begin to uproot easily, so you just never know.”

The county’s emergency operations center is being lightly staffed as a precaution for the ongoing storm, but Raasch said they will probably not see much action.

Seaman Aaron Delgado at the Coast Guard station in Bodega Bay said his morning commute was challenging and that roads in Valley Ford were like rivers.

“The water was moving up past people’s doors and there were so many closures we could all barely get to work this morning,” Delgado said. “It was like rushing water.”

Authorities advise motorists to avoid traveling through major stretches of standing water.

Cal Fire dispatchers said they responded to downed power lines and flooding overnight, but no major accidents.

Scattered power outages were reported by PG&E, with several hundred people near Guerneville without electricity since early morning. Most of the power was restored by Thursday around noon.

The NWS forecast a cold front would sweep across the North Bay on Thursday with strong gusts at times.

There will be continued showers hanging over the North Bay until late Sunday, but areas should not expect to see more than an additional inch of rain over the weekend, said NWS meteorologist Carolina Walbrun.

There will be another pulse of strong rain on Friday night but will taper by Saturday afternoon, she said, and the North Bay should dry out starting on Monday.

In the 48 hours since the storm hit on Tuesday morning, Guerneville, Monte Rio and Bodega Bay have each received nearly 8 inches of rain, according to reports published by the National Weather Service.

Santa Rosa, Healdsburg and Cloverdale received over 5 inches of rain and Petaluma, Cotati and Sebastopol close to 4 inches.

Winds are also expected to fade, but topped out at almost 50 mph in some parts of the county on Wednesday night, weather service reported.

Check back for updates.