(KRON) — KRON4’s weather team has been reporting on the season’s first storm to hit the Bay Area.
Saturday Forecast: The 2nd round of rain is expected this afternoon. The rain starts in the North bay around 2pm everywhere else about 4pm.
There is also a Wind Advisory starting at 2pm today until 2am Sunday.The winds will kick up around 10am and last into tonight.
Highs will be in the mid 60’s to low 70’s.
Precipitation started falling across the North Bay at around 9 p.m. Thursday and moved south into San Francisco and Oakland by late Friday morning.
Light rain Friday morning immediately around San Francisco Bay will become heavier Friday afternoon while winds already have caused power outages and delays at San Francisco International Airport.
Around noon, the first potent storm of the season had dropped just over two inches of rain near Mill Creek Road northwest of Guerneville and 2.20 inches on Mount Saint Helena.
Along with rain that could bring up to a three-quarters of an inch to Oakland and a half an inch to San Francisco Friday, residents will experience strong winds throughout the afternoon.
“There could be localized heavy rain as well,” National Weather Service meteorologist Sierra Brune said.
The Santa Rosa airport reported 0.62 inches while 0.53 inches fell near Richmond and 0.40 inches in the hills east of Berkeley, National Weather Service meteorologist Roger Gass said.
Farther south, Hayward received only 0.02 inches and Redwood City reported only 0.07 inches, but those totals were expected to increase, Gass said.
San Jose is expected to get one-half to three-quarters of an inch by Sunday.
“It’s definitely a potent storm for this early in October,” Gass said. Though it’s not out of the ordinary, he said. The rainy season in the Bay Area started Oct. 1.
Overall, Oakland and San Francisco could both see more than an inch of rain before the weekend is over, Brune said. Winds will range from 10 to 20 mph with gusts of around 30 mph.
The weather has prompted delays already at San Francisco International Airport where 66 delays have been reported and 70 flights have been canceled.
The situation could worsen as the day progresses, airport spokesman Doug Yakel said.
Yakel is asking travelers to please check with their airlines before coming to the airport.
Thousands of electric customers have lost power Friday morning.
On the roads, officials with the California Highway Patrol are seeing an increase in collisions.
CHP officers are asking people to slow down and increase the distance between them and the car ahead of them.
CHP Officer John Fransen also suggested people give themselves more time to get to their destination.
Fransen said the first rain of the season is already a concern because the rain mixed with oil makes the roads slick.
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The impact of rain and winds has caused a power outage, which shut down Contra Costa College classes for Friday and knocked out power briefly to a traffic signal in Redwood City.
A power outage near Daly City at about 8 a.m. is causing a systemwide delay on BART. At the height of the problem, trains were running 30 to 60 minutes behind schedule.
Though residents of the North Bay were the first to get wet and blown around, no flooding had been reported in either Marin or Napa counties, public works officials in those two counties said.
Closer to the Bay, California Highway Patrol officials reported flooded traffic lanes and even whole roadways flooded.
All lanes of northbound Interstate Highway 880 at Market Street in Oakland were flooded as of about 1 p.m.
Rain in the Bay Area is expected to last through Sunday.
Wind has also been part of the storm with gusts of 52 mph at Atlas Peak in Napa County, 40 mph in the Oakland Hills and 32 mph at San Francisco International Airport.
The key for pilots has been the wind, airport spokesman Doug Yakel said.
Usually the winds blow from the north, but the storm is blowing from the south, causing pilots to land and depart at 180 degrees from normal.
“And that does add to our delays,” Yakel said.
Airport officials were reporting 102 cancellations and 200 flight delays as of about 2 p.m.
Numerous public agencies issued warnings to residents and visitors before the storm.
CHP officials warned of slick roads as the rain loosened the buildup of oil on streets and highways.
Two Oakland police officers crashed and suffered minor injuries when they lost control of their motorcycles on Interstate Highway 580 near the MacArthur Boulevard exit.
Both were taken to a hospital for treatment, police said. Officials in San Francisco, Pleasanton and Orinda have opened depots where residents can pick up sandbags.
San Francisco residents who are prone to flooding can get 10 free sandbags at a public works operations center at Kansas and Marin streets. The center is open Monday to Saturday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. In Pleasanton, residents can pickup free sandbags Monday to Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the operations services center at 3333 Busch Road.
Residents must bring their own shovel. In Orinda, sandbags are available at the Moraga-Orinda fire
In Orinda, sandbags are available at the Moraga-Orinda fire station No. 44 at 295 Orchard Road, according to police.
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