It’s been a wet week in San Mateo County, and this weekend is expected to bring much more rain as the season’s first stormy-weather system continues to move through the Bay Area.
The last three days have seen roughly three-quarters of an inch of rain or less in much of the county, but precipitation late Sunday through early Monday could bring as much as two to three inches to the region along with sustained winds of 20 to 25 mph, with gusts up to 35 mph, National Weather Service meteorologist Jeff Lorber said.
“There will definitely be significant winds out of the south, especially Sunday afternoon,” Lorber said. “There is some decent risk of some power outages Sunday into Monday, but things should settle down later Monday morning.”
Power outages have been sporadic as Pacific Gas and Electric has contended with muddy or damaged infrastructure amid the season’s initial rain. Up to 27,000 customers in the county lost power Sunday and sporadic outages generally affecting a few hundred customers at a time have persisted throughout the week. Just more than 600 customers were without power as of mid-Thursday, the majority in Burlingame, Half Moon Bay and South San Francisco.
“We are seeing issues related to trees and tree branches falling into power lines or dirt and debris mixing with rain, turning into mud and conducting electricity which damages electric equipment,” PG&E spokesperson Mayra Tostado said. “Crews are working to restore as quickly as possible.”
The utility is preparing for this weekend by activating 12 local emergency operations centers and allocating additional staff and resources to restore power, said Tostado.
“It’s an all-hands-on-deck situation,” she said in an email. “We have a plan to respond to outages as soon as they occur.”
The rain is expected to ease off after Monday, though the next few weeks are expected to bring significant rain to Northern California.
“What we’re seeing in the short term over the next few weeks, is quite a wet pattern, in fact 5 to 10 inches of precipitation in many areas, higher elevation snow,” Jon Gottschalk said, a meteorologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s climate prediction center.
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This year’s rainy season will be impacted by a La Niña climate pattern, according to NOAA’s Winter Outlook report released Thursday. The pattern is expected to bring more rain to the Pacific Northwest and drier conditions to Southern California and other southern regions.
San Mateo County falls within an area expected to receive 33% to 40% below average rainfall through January. Much of the southern portion of the state is expected to see 40% to 50% below average rainfall, while the northernmost portion has equal chances of seeing below or above average rainfall, according to the report.
As for drought conditions, much of the state remains in an “exceptional drought.” The drought is expected to worsen in the southern portion of the state but improve in the northern portion, with the Bay Area caught somewhere in the middle. Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a drought state of emergency for the entire state earlier this week; previously all but eight of the state’s 58 counties had been declared to be in a state of emergency.
The recent rain is expected to help bring the region’s fire season to a close as dry grass and other flammable vegetation is dampened.
Locally, the rain has not caused flooding issues, Kellie Benz, a spokesperson for the San Mateo Public Works Department, said.
The city of San Mateo has opened two locations to pick up sandbags at 2037 E. Third Ave. and 1949 Pacific Blvd.
Go to pge.com for the latest updates on outages and to view safety tips.
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