California is heading into a stretch of back-to-back storms that are expected to bring the season’s first widespread rain, along with wind, snow and big waves over the next week. The first system could reach the North Bay as early as late Thursday night, with rain spreading up and down the state on Friday.
That timing is why people are watching the forecast now. Brian Garcia said this is the first real rain of the season for the Bay Area and warned that even a little rain can make roads slippery on Friday. The Bay Area could see up to two inches over the next week, while Los Angeles is likely to get less than an inch.
The heaviest rain is expected in the North Coast, where totals could reach up to six inches. Farther south, the rain should be lighter by the time it reaches the Los Angeles area Friday evening. The storms are also expected to replenish reservoirs and rivers and soak the landscape enough to reduce the threat of wildfires.
The bigger concern may not be flooding. The flooding risk is predicted to be low even as the storms kick up strong winds and churn the Pacific Ocean. Those winds could be strong enough to snap branches off trees that dried out after the heat of summer and early fall, but the combination of rain and wind does not point to showstopping rainfall totals.
What the storms do promise is dangerous surf. Experts are warning beachgoers to stay away from the water this weekend, especially in Northern California, where the waves could turn extreme. Brian Garcia urged people to check beach webcams on their computers and said they should not be going down anywhere near the saltwater at all.
Wave heights will vary sharply along the coast. Beaches in Los Angeles and San Diego could see waves of eight to 12 feet, some Central California beaches could get 25-foot surf, Ocean Beach in San Francisco could see waves of more than 40 feet, and Mavericks could reach 60 feet or higher. That threat is arriving as the waters off California remain unusually warm and El Niño continues to strengthen, a pattern that has been linked to some of the state’s wettest winters. California gets most of its annual precipitation during the winter, and this sequence looks set to open the season with the first statewide soaking even if the storms are not especially heavy.
