A highway sign warns motorist of a severe weather warning today and tomorrow while on I-680 west bound in Lafayette, Calif., on Sunday, Feb. 4, 2024. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
High winds and heavy rain hit the Bay Area Sunday, bringing downed trees, swollen rivers, and thunderstorms to the region. Although flooding and rainfall was not as severe as predicted, the high winds came as advertised.
“The winds are the main hazard with this system,” said Sarah McCorkle, a meteorologist with the national weather service. “They’re shaping up to be pretty bad.”
In San Jose, an enormous tree fell on a townhome on Rocky Creek Court, crushing the garage. In Alameda, a firefighters and the Coast Guard responded to a boat in distress of the island’s shore. Powerful winds led to power outages and closed roads from the peninsula to the East Bay. In Monterey, wind gusts as high as 88 mph were recorded.
Residents from San Jose to the Monterey coast were warned to hunker down on Saturday. San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan declared a local state of emergency and warned unhoused people living along the Guadalupe River to evacuate. In Monterey County, evacuations were ordered for residents along parts of the Carmel River and in a Salinas neighborhood. The National Weather Service’s Monterey office issued its first ever hurricane force wind for the central coast.
As of 8 a.m., was PG&E reporting 49 outages affecting 2,100 customers.
Check back for updates.
Originally published at Will McCarthy