Severe thunderstorms, downed trees and power outages accompany Bay's atmospheric river

Severe thunderstorm warnings, issued by the National Weather Service, accompanied the latest atmospheric river in parts of the Bay Area on Tuesday. 

The entire Bay Area is under a flood watch until 4 a.m. Wednesday as significant rain moves through the area. Widespread power outages, caused by high winds, are also being seen throughout the Bay Area. 

What we know:

Despite the expiration of severe thunderstorm warnings for parts of Santa Clara, San Mateo and San Francisco counties, the NWS said rain is expected to continue with chances of isolated thunderstorms into the evening hours. Wind gusts of 60 mph are expected to accompany this storm. 

This second round of an atmospheric river made its way into the Bay Area on Monday. Rain pummeled the region and snarled the commute

San Francisco pummeled

San Francisco's Department of Emergency Management this afternoon cautioned residents about the dangerous wind and rain. 

"Avoid walking near trees, especially in parks. Avoid unnecessary travel," the agency's post read. 

The San Francisco Fire Department reported a mudslide on Telegraph Hill at Sansome and Union streets at 6:22 p.m. These conditions are affecting the street and the surrounding areas, but there were no injuries associated with the mudslide. At least one car at the bottom of the hill had a shattered rear window. Officials said to avoid the area but that there was no threat to the public from the slide. 

Geologists are coming to the rockslide area on Wednesday morning, where the roadway remains closed, and will determine if the homes atop Telegraph Hill are on solid ground or need to be evacuated and red tagged. 

There are also reports of downed trees in the city. One was reported at Union Street between Laguna and Buchanan streets at 2:30 p.m. That's where a parklet in front of The Blue Light, a bar next to a lululemon store, was smashed. City officials alerted residents to avoid this area as emergency crews responded to the scene. 

The fire department said that the downed tree affected Muni lines and that no one was injured. 

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A tree took out a parklet in front of a bar on San Francisco's Union Street during an atmospheric river on Feb. 4, 2025. 

City officials also told residents to avoid Crossover Drive due to an obstruction. Video from the Citizen app shows a downed tree in the area at Lincoln Way. 

The fire department at around 2:15 p.m. said they received reports that a tree had fallen on a person on Goettingen Street in the McLaren Park neighborhood. The person was treated by crews when they arrived. Officials said the person had minor injuries. In an update, the fire department said the adult patient decided not to go to the hospital for observation and that it was a branch from the tree that had fallen. 

More than a dozen people visited the city's Department of Public Works operations yard to pick up sandbags. Barzi Estrada picked up 10 of them. 

"We're using it at a local church," said Estrada. He said water was already making its way in. "We're trying to protect ourselves from more flooding in that building." 

San Francisco Recreation and Parks also closed down Stern Grove and Pine Lake Parks, as well as all six of the city's municipal golf courses due to the weather. 

So far, the city has received more than 2.5 inches of rain, which breaks a daily record for the downtown area that was set back in 1887, according to the NWS. 

A break in the rain

A break in the rain is expected on Wednesday, but precipitation returns to the forecast on Thursday. 

KTVU Meteorologist Bill Martin says we are at the backend of our current system and that Thursday's storm is expected to be less powerful. 

"We need it, right? We hadn't had rain and secondly, atmospheric rivers are how we get most of our rain in our winter. So this has to happen, or we will have issues down the road," Martin said saying it's a double-edged sword. 

North Bay 

Elsewhere in the Bay, a mudslide in Sonoma County's Forestville sent a home into the Russian River

An evacuation order was sent out in the evening for low-lying areas along the Russian River area from unincorporated Healdsburg to Jenner. The river is expected to crest at Guerneville at 7 a.m., officials said. 

The rushing water carries debris with it, leading to a process called scouring where concrete can be eaten away. 

Brenda Mora was cooking in her kitchen when she witnessed the floodwaters rising outside her home on North Fitch Mountain Road in Healdsburg.

"It sounded like something was crashing, and a big stream of water was coming down," Mora said. 

She captured video as the street turned into a muddy mess.

"It’s tragic, definitely. It’s scary. All I could think of was grabbing my papers - my important documents - and just running out," Mora said.

Mora and her family are now seeking shelter in a hotel. Several other homes in the area have also been damaged.

In San Rafael, storm sewers became overburdened and topped a manhole at a major intersection. 

A Sutter Medical Center on Airway Drive in Santa Rosa closed due to a flood this afternoon. Two vehicles became stuck in the flood water and required firefighter assistance to get to safety. 

Sonoma Public Infrastructure crews were on site Tuesday evening clearing the road and storm drains of mud and debris. 

"We’ve been experiencing a lot of rain - low intensity, but for long durations. Eventually, the soil became saturated and couldn’t hold up any longer," said Johannes Hoevertsz, director of Sonoma Public Infrastructure.

"At this point, the best thing they can do is have sandbags and monitor for earth movement. The soils are saturated, and they’re going to liquefy and move if they get completely saturated. So, look out for cracks in the back of your yard," said Hoevertsz.

Santa Rosa has seen more than 3.5" of rain. Napa has seen just over 3". 

Sonoma County Office of Education has announced closures on Wednesday for Guerneville and Monte Rio Union school districts. 

Additional flood warnings have been issued for areas of Napa County near the Napa River. NWS officials said the runoff is causing rapid rises in water levels. Affected communities include; Calistoga, St. Helena, Yountville, and Napa. 

Another thing the North Bay has to contend with is the cold temperatures. NWS says a frost advisory is in effect from 11 p.m. through 9 a.m. on Wednesday. 

Peninsula 

The San Mateo County Department of Emergency Management is urging residents to stay off of roads and to stay indoors if possible through the evening. 

Luis Montes of Pacifica said his power went out twice. 

"We lost power this morning, like about 8:30-ish. And then it came back on." Montes said the power went back out about an hour later. 

Further inland, neighbors at Redwood City's RC Mobile Park said the mobile home park is vulnerable to flooding. 

A severe thunderstorm blew through Stanford's campus and Palo Alto late this afternoon with 65 mph winds. 

Multiple sandbag sites have opened throughout San Mateo County to help prevent flooding. 

Power outages

Pacific Gas and Electric is reporting outages associated with the storm. Nearly 22,000 Bay Area PG&E customers were without power at 4 p.m. The majority of those affected were along the Peninsula. 

By 9:30 p.m., those numbers had significantly dwindled to a total of 8,384 regional customers without power. That includes more than 4,000 Peninsula customers and 2,197 customers in the North Bay.  

PG&E said artificial intelligence and crew pre-staging is leading to faster response times to these outages. 

"PG&E is prepared for this storm and our response to it and we want to make sure that our customers are preparing as well," said Jake Zigelman, PG&E's regional vice president.  He said the impacts are mostly seen on the Peninsula's west side and elevated terrain. 

"When you combine winds with saturated ground, that's where you tend to see debris flow, potential vegetation failures, which could get into our assets," Zigelman said. 

KTVU's Tom Vacar, Christien Kafton, Jesse Gary and Betty Yu contributed to this report. 

Featured

Forestville landslide sends home into Russian River

A landslide in Sonoma County's Forestville sent a home into the Russian River on Tuesday as an atmospheric river pounded the Bay Area.

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