"Tonight into Tuesday morning, the next band of rain is expected to be the most impactful" system in this current weather pattern so far, a Monday forecast from the National Weather Service said. "Intense rain is set to begin impacting the North Bay late tonight with the band moving through the Bay Area and Central Coast overnight into the morning hours of Tuesday." Dangerous, potentially life-threatening conditions are expected to take hold of every beach along the Pacific coast, bringing rip currents, sneaker waves and coastal flooding to the region.
The North Bay valleys are expected to receive between 0.5 and 1 inch of rain, while the Bay Area valleys and Monterey region will likely see up to 0.6 inch, the forecast said. Though 40 mph wind gusts are also expected to sweep through the region starting late Tuesday night, weather service meteorologist Brayden Murdock said it pales in comparison to previous storm systems.
"It's not going to be as intense," he told SFGATE over the phone, adding that many areas in the region will peak at 30 mph late Monday night and into Tuesday. Some mountain ranges could even see up to 50 mph gusts, he said. "But compared to other systems, or full on atmospheric rivers, this is kind of mild, a lot more manageable." By Tuesday morning, the wind should subside before finally easing up by the evening, he said.
Aside from the gusty winds and chance of intense rainfall, the weather service predicts that isolated to scattered thunderstorms will sweep through most of the Bay Area and northern Central Coast late Monday night and into Tuesday. Those storms could lead to lightning, floods, 50 mph wind gusts and hail the size of pennies.