Powerful back-to-back storm systems known as an “atmospheric river” are arriving in the Bay Area Wednesday and continuing through Friday. Heavy rains are expected to hit the North Bay the hardest, but Berkeley will also get swept with wind and rainfall, according to the National Weather Service Bay Area and local forecasters.
The city should expect between 2.5 and 4 inches of rain between Wednesday and Friday night, with the heaviest rain — up to 1.5 inches — coming Friday, said Cindy Palmer, a NWS meteorologist. More rain is expected in the hills than the flats. Some localized flooding and puddling is expected.
“You’re right on the edge of where the plume is going to set up,” Palmer said. “If it sets up a little further south, you could absolutely get more.”
https://twitter.com/NWSBayArea/status/1859249591209844989/photo/1
Berkeley is among a number of bayside cities under a gale warning for watercraft until 3 p.m. Wednesday and a wind advisory along the shoreline until 6 a.m. Thursday — with south winds at speeds up to 30 mph possible and gusts up to 50 mph.
Southeast winds of 15 to 25 knots are forecast with gusts of up to 35 knots causing rough waters that could capsize or damage vessels and reduce visibility. San Francisco International Airport is under a wind warning until 10 p.m. Wednesday, according to The Weather Channel.
“It will definitely damper the fire season,” Palmer said, “but we need to see how much we get after it.”
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Before joining Berkeleyside as managing editor in April 2021, Zac was editor of the Southwest Journal, a 30,000-circulation biweekly community paper in Minneapolis, MN. While there, he led coverage of... More by Zac Farber
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