California storm drops 3 inches of rain in an hour

© Randee Deason

Hwy 37-W near Novato, the connector to Hwy 101 North and South shutdown by flooded roadway

The storm dubbed the Pineapple Express by some media outlets hit wide areas of northern and central California yesterday, 11 December 2014.

US National Weather Service (NWS) say that 2.91 inches (73 mm) of rain was recorded in just one hour on the Big Sur coast yesterday. During the 24 hours of 11 December, 3.55 inches (90 mm) of rain fell in the San Francisco Bay Area. For San Francisco, it was the second wettest 11 December on record:

@NWSBayArea

#SF calendar day rainfall Dec 11th was 3.40" & now 2nd wettest daily total ever for the 11th. Dec 11th '95 daily record 3.61" holds. #CAwx

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Strong winds across northern California and Oregon knocked out power to tens of thousands of homes, disrupted flights and forced schools to close. One man died as a result of a falling tree in Oregon. A young boy was injured after the storm knocked down a tree near a school in city of Santa Cruz, California.

Floods and high winds caused widespread problems for roads and the transport system around San Francisco. The westbound lanes of Interstate 280 in the East Bay suburb of El Cerrito were particularly badly affected.

There have been reports of several cars becoming trapped in the floods, including 3 cars in an underpass in the Berkley area:

Daniel Villareal @KRON4DVillareal

There are 3 cars underwater in this pic on Ashby at I-80 can you spot them? @kron4news #BayAreaStorm

10:45 PM - 11 Dec 2014

J Ortega @JibbyOrtega

@NorthBayNews and @kron4news this is Elsie Allen High School at the moment! #BayAreaStorm #StormWatch

1:26 AM - 12 Dec 2014

River Levels

Over 24 hours of heavy rain has increased river levels in some areas. Levels of the Russian, Sacramento and Eel rivers all approaching or above flood stage.

Flood warnings are in place for Russian River at Johnsons Beach near Guerneville, the Navarro River in Mendocino County, and several areas for the Upper Sacramento River System, including at the Red Bluff Diversion Dam and Hamilton City.

© NWS

Sacramento River Levels.

© NWS

Russian River levels.

Flood Warnings

Several NWS flood and flash flood warnings are in place for today, Friday 12 December 2014.

Flash flood warnings remain in place for Ventura County, especially near the Springs Burn Area.

Around Sacramento, flash flood warnings are in place for today for the burn areas of El Dorado and Placer counties.

Flooding has been reported in Monterey County, including the city of Gorda, and along Highway 1 from Big Sur southward to San Luis Obispo County.

Storm Heads South

The storm is now expected to move south and flood warnings have been issued for Santa Barbara County, where rainfall of 1 to 2 inches per hour has been forecast for the early hours of Friday 12 December.

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