Rain, storms return to Bay Area this week

OAKLAND, Calif. (KTVU) - Rain returns to parts of the Bay Area Monday night, but most people will have to wait until Thursday night to see the wet stuff in their neighborhood.

But when the second storm does arrive it's expected to bring up to 2 inches of rain to San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose over the next 7 days.

The average monthly rainfall total for the whole month of October in those areas is around 1 inch.

According to KTVU meteorologist Steve Paulson, areas north of Golden Gate Bridge will begin to see rain Monday afternoon, but the South Bay may not see any rain at all.

High winds are moving through the Bay Area ahead of the system with some gusts topping out at 40-50 miles per hour Monday morning.

The storm is expected to last into Tuesday morning before moving out of the Bay Area, making room for a much stronger and wetter system Thursday night.

Thursday's system is expected to extend from the North Bay, across the whole Bay Area and all the way down to the Monterey Peninsula.

Rainfall projections for the next 7 days have over 2 inches of rain falling in San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose.

Steve Paulson says some areas of the North Bay could see up to 3 inches of rain and parts of the Santa Cruz Mountains could also see higher than average totals.

Officials in that area are worried about the impact of excessive rainfall especially in the recent burn areas of the Loma Fire.

They've begun making extra preparations to prevent erosion, but expect the winters rain to take a significant toll on the area.