Storm Door Swings Back Open in the Morning

We've made it through two of five storms

If forecasters are right, this could be the wettest week in the decade. 

The heavy rains of Monday turned to scattered showers by sunset, but according to meteorologist everywhere, there is a lot more weather off the coast and headed our way.

Each storm is stronger and more dangerous than the previous one, in part because it will be raining on already saturated ground.

Along with Monday's rain came strong winds. Wind gusts of at least 40 mph were tracked at airports in Oakland and San Francisco.

A flight headed into SFO mid-morning had to make an emergency landing in San Jose after a gust of wind called a micro-burst  hit an American Airlines jet from Dallas.   The plane landed safely and the passenger were taken by bus to SFO.

National Weather Service forecaster Bob Benjamin said we should be prepared for rivers and other bodies of water to rise above their banks by the end of the week.

"To have this progression, this number of systems, is not unheard  of but it's not usual. If it progresses as anticipated, at the end, we will probably have to go back 10 years or more to find a system of equal rainfall and intensity," Benjamin said.

The next system is forecast to hit during the Tuesday morning commute. Heavy rain and wind are what most drivers will face as they head to work for the first day of a shortened MLK work-week.

We could be measuring rainfall by the foot by the Friday.

The results of all of these storms has the potential for residential flooding, but the major rivers in the Bay Area are expected to stay well within their banks.  The Napa and Russian Rivers are not supposed to come even close to flood levels.

New technology is allowing everyone to check levels with the click of a mouse which links to rivers levels. Just put your mouse over the dot and a window will pop up with critical information. On the right side of the screen you'll see the flood stage for each river as you place your mouse over the dot. The dot will be green if all is okay with that river, yellow if we need to start monitoring and red if there is flooding.

Southern California is also getting hit with a series of storms this week.

Dozens of homes were under evacuation orders as heavy rains pounded a neighborhood just below an area scarred by a massive wildfire.  There is a threat of mudslides along the San Gabriel Mountains north of Los Angeles.

The area was near the scene of the Station Fire last summer that scorched about 250 square miles of Angeles National Forest.

Olivia Brown stood outside her home in driving rain and exchanged information with her neighbors.

 "We are already packed and ready to go," she told the Associated Press, adding she thought most people would listen to the order and leave.
 

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