Widespread rainfall is returning to the Bay Area this week, bringing with it a chance of thunderstorms, up to 60 mph winds and potential flooding.
A storm system currently looming over the Eastern Pacific is driving a long-period northwesterly swell, which is expected to pound the coastline with sneaker waves and rip currents Sunday before the rainmaker caused by the same system arrives as soon as Monday night. Roger Gass, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service’s Bay Area office, told SFGATE people should stay out of the water and prepare for “difficult driving conditions” as the swell period dies down and the storm approaches.
Showers are forecast to hit the North Bay first before continuing a southward trajectory Tuesday night into Wednesday morning, when the heaviest rain is slated to fall. After all is said and done, Gass estimates a half of an inch to an inch of rain will soak San Francisco, while up to two and a half inches of rain could hit some of the higher terrain in the North Bay, such as the Mayacamas and Mount Saint Helena. Anywhere from an inch to two inches of rain are expected in the North Bay valleys, Gass said…