First significant weather system to move through Bay Area

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Many Bay Area residents woke up Tuesday morning to unusual sights and sounds: Rain pattering down on the streets and on the rooftops of their cars. 

"It's the first significant system since April or May," National Weather Service meteorologist Roger Gass said.

While it's been a while since the Bay Area has been blanketed in water, Gass said having precipitation in October isn't all that odd, even though this year, it's coming a couple of weeks earlier.

Last year for example, San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose and Santa Rosa had their first measurable rainfalls on October 19. 

And in 2016, San Francisco saw rain on Oct. 2 and 3, the same dates rain is falling this year.

So far, Gass said that there's been an inch of rain that's fallen in Sonoma County and the Santa Rosa airport has seen half an inch of rain in 12 hours.

These frontal band rainshowers are expected through the morning commute and will peter off about 10 a.m., Gass said. There will be lingering showers, and even possible thunderstorms, throughout the region through Wednesday afternoon. 

The showers snarled traffic during the morning commute and were blamed for crashes, including an overturned car that landed along the edge of Lake Merritt.