A healthy dose of rain is headed toward the Bay Area for a few days this week, but the showers may not be quite as heavy as was forecast last week, according to the National Weather Service.
In a storm system that was set to start dropping rain around midnight as Tuesday began, most cities in the region were predicted to see rainfall in the 1-to 2-inch range across a five-day span. NWS predictions for the week included a little bit less than an inch in San Jose, with more than two inches expected in Oakland and San Francisco, and an inch to an inch and a half in Hayward, San Mateo and Concord.
Forecast update: The expected rain totals have decreased. Here's the latest accumulation map for the week: pic.twitter.com/HYGDCkdbYf
— NWS Bay Area 🌉 (@NWSBayArea) November 13, 2023
The early Tuesday start for the wet weather was forecast to be most prevalent in the northern parts of the Peninsula and East Bay, with little more than sprinkles expected in the South Bay.
“The main focus is going to be in the North Bay and a little south across the Peninsula,” said NWS meteorologist Roger Gass. “Tuesday actually looks to be mostly dry.”
NWS forecasters expected about three tenths of an inch of rain in Oakland between the hours of 12 and 6 a.m. Tuesday. Other forecasts during that time showed amounts from a quarter-inch projected in San Francisco, to as little as one-one-hundredth of an inch for San Jose. Forecasts for the rest of the day Tuesday showed minimal amounts of rain across the region paired with high temperatures in the high 60s and low 70s.
Wednesday was anticipated to see the most dramatic amounts of rainfall — unlike Tuesday, virtually no parts of the region will be spared from a wet day. Most rain was expected in the morning hours, but San Jose could expect about a quarter-inch of rain, while Oakland, San Francisco and much of the Peninsula and East Bay could see more than half an inch.
The rain was forecast to continue during the week into the weekend, but Gass said confidence on the amount of rainfall was lower as the week goes on.
“(More rain later in the week) is what it’s currently looking like,” he said.
While forecasts from late last week showed predictions that perhaps rivaled intense episodes of weather that the Bay Area experienced early in the year, residents can now take a deep breath, Gass said.
“It’s looking less like an atmospheric river and more-so along the lines of a typical winter system,” he said. “We’re expecting one to three rounds of precipitation and that’s about it.”
