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While the Bay Area is expected to get a break from wet weather in time for Thanksgiving on Thursday, the respite likely will be brief as a looming weekend storm threatens to unleash torrents of rain on the region and upend holiday travel for those returning home.
“We’re gonna see some more (rain) for Thanksgiving, but it will be more hit-and-miss,” said meteorologist Spencer Tangen of the National Weather Service. “It won’t last as long as it did Wednesday, and it won’t hit as many places.”
Thursday is forecast to be dry but cold across the East and South Bays. Temperatures are not expected to rise above the low 50s in most places, and snow showers are forecast for anywhere above 2,500 to 3,000 feet, according to the National Weather Service.
Rainfall totals were below normal for this time of year, according to the weather service. Since Oct. 1, the start of the rainy season, downtown San Francisco and the Oakland Airport have recorded 1.17 and 1.01 inches of rain, respectively, about 30 percent of normal. The San Jose Airport has recorded .89 inches of rain, about 40 percent of normal.
Rain is forecast to return again for the weekend, with another system forecast to move through the bay, bringing rain “in the order of inches” beginning as early as midday Saturday and lasting until late Sunday night, according to NWS.
The rains come on the heels of this week’s earlier storm — the largest to hit Bay Area in six months — which began to soak the region Tuesday and caused flooding and travel delays for people leaving town for the holiday. “This was a cold, showery system, but the second one will come in from the west and have longer duration with steady rain,” said NWS meteorologist Ryan Walbrun.
Preliminary 24-hour rainfall totals reported Wednesday evening included 1.14 inches at the Calero Reservoir near San Jose, 1.03 inches at Richmond City Hall and 1 inch at Interstate 880 and Auto Mall Parkway in Fremont. Other 24-hour totals included 1.10 inches in Half Moon Bay, 1.06 inches in downtown San Francisco, .98 inches at Oakland International Airport, .90 inches in Fremont, .83 inches at San Jose International Airport and .63 inches in Concord.
At Ben Lomond, in the Santa Cruz Mountains, a remote automated weather station recorded 1.85 inches of rain. Snow also fell across the Santa Lucia Range in Monterey County and Chalone Peak near San Benito and also was reported on Mount Hamilton and Mount Diablo.
As the winter weather snarled traffic heading into the mountains Wednesday, California Highway Patrol warned people who were heading out of town to slow down and be patient. Chains were required on Interstate 80 through the Sierra Nevada except for four-wheel-drive vehicles with snow tires.
The agency said it was prepared for the typical Thanksgiving eve exodus Wednesday night.
“Thanksgiving Day itself is pretty much a tossup,” CHP Officer John Fransen said. “Most people go Wednesday, but Thursday can be crowded too. We want them to be safe, especially because there’s been an increase in drinking and driving and DUI arrests this year.”
The CHP planned to saturate Bay Area roads with patrol officers beginning at 6:01 p.m. Wednesday through 11:59 p.m. Sunday, Fransen said.
“It’s a busy time of year, not just on the freeways but on the side streets because of all the sales that start to happen after the holiday and all the shopping people do,” he said. “There are more pedestrians on the roads. Drivers need to be very careful.”
The rain also has caused problems for those flying out of town. SFO Duty Manager Maria Buyco said there had been six cancellations and almost 300 delays as of 5 p.m. Wednesday. The airport also had operated under an FAA ground delay for part of the day due to low ceilings, she added.
SJC Spokeswoman Rosemary Barnes said her facility had five cancellations Wednesday but did not have an estimate on delays. Flight tracking website FlightAware showed 4 cancellations and 98 delays.
On Tuesday night, travelers at Oakland International Airport were plunged into darkness for about an hour, stalling security lines and delaying flights. About 20,000 homes also lost power Tuesday night as a result of the storm. An Oakland International Airport website showed 181 flights delayed into and out of the facility Wednesday and early Thursday.
Inclement weather caused problems for travelers outside of the Bay Area, too; in southern Oregon, the low pressure system caused wind gusts up to 106 mph in Cape Blanco, according to NWS, which also issued a blizzard warning for the Cascades and Siskiyou Mountains in the same area. Meanwhile in the Midwest, snow rapidly blanketed parts of Minnesota, throttling flights in and out of Minneapolis and prompting a snow emergency in several cities.
Staff writers Rick Hurd and George Kelly contributed to this report.
