San Francisco

New Storm Soaks Soggy Bay Area

Another storm moved into water-logged California on Tuesday with the potential to create more flooding and trigger mudslides.

The evening commute was wet in the San Francisco Bay Area and elsewhere in Northern California, with the rain expected to continue through Wednesday.

The National Weather Service issued a flood advisory for Marin County until 8:15 p.m. The storm was expected to bring up to 7 inches of snow to the Central Sierra, with wind gusts of up to 45 mph possible.

Marin County supervisors voted Tuesday afternoon to declare a state of emergency due to storm damage. The county hopes to tap into federal and state funds to repair a levee in Novato that was damaged in last week’s storm.

In the South Bay, even before a drop fell Tuesday, a drought-distressed tree weakened by last week’s rain fell over in Santa Clara, knocking over a light pole and partially damaging the roof of the four-plex Luis Sanchez lives in.

“All of a sudden, it started shaking, like an earthquake,” Sanchez said, “and I come out through the main door to check out what is going on, and I saw the tree falling down.”

And flooding in some spots of Bay Area freeways made for a slow and dangerous commute for drivers, especially in the South Bay. A multi-vehicle collision occurred on lanes from state Highway 87 to Interstate Highway 280 in San Jose where one lane was flooded Tuesday night, according to the California Highway Patrol.

In Southern California, between 1 and 2 inches of rain was expected at higher elevations, with snow higher than 6,000 feet.

The storms triggered fresh fears of mudslides in foothill neighborhoods that are below wildfire-scarred mountains and were swamped by debris in strong storms last week.

A high-surf advisory was in effect along the Los Angeles County coast until Wednesday afternoon.

The state has been hit hard by rain and snow over the past week. Last week's wind and rainfall caused widespread flooding and power outages in Northern California, including in downtown San Francisco.

Another storm system came through Monday, though forecasters say that storm and this week's aren't nearly as powerful as the one last week.

And while the storms help, much more rain is needed to pull the state out of its severe drought, forecasters say.

Updates: Interactive Radar and Severe Weather Alerts

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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