The Bay Area was soaked by an unusually potent late-season rainstorm Wednesday night, and precipitation continued to fall during the morning commute Thursday.
San Francisco was in the bull’s-eye for the heaviest rainfall totals, with 0.6 inches through 8 a.m.
During rush hour Thursday morning, the heaviest rain was south and east of the Golden Gate as the storm continued to pivot away from the North Bay.
Steady rain is expected to taper to showers in San Francisco and Oakland by 9 a.m. Redwood City, Fremont and San Jose will probably contend with wet weather until 11 a.m., with showers dotting Santa Cruz through at least noon.
The center of the storm, and the bulk of the rain, is forecast to move south of Monterey in the afternoon, leaving the Bay Area under a mix of sun and clouds. However, isolated to scattered showers wrapping around the storm’s center could still brush the Bay Area. There’s even a slight chance of a lightning strike in the East Bay and South Bay in the afternoon.
Napa, Solano and Contra Costa counties may be clipped by a few light showers Thursday night, but no more than a tenth of an inch of additional rain is expected.
A drying and warming trend is expected to take hold Friday and continue through the weekend.
Thursday also set a same-day rainfall record in San Francisco and was the city’s wettest day this late into the rainy season since June 2011, when 0.81 inches fell. It also pushed May precipitation totals above the long-term average, marking San Francisco’s second consecutive wetter-than-normal month after a dry January and March put the city in a precipitation deficit.
Much of the North Bay picked up a quarter- to a half-inch of rain before precipitation began to taper. Totals ranged widely in the East Bay, South Bay and Peninsula, generally from a tenth to half-inch, though precipitation continued to fall there.
Snow fell in the Sierra, with Mammoth Mountain – whose lifts are still open – getting 3-5 inches, and Palisades Tahoe, which recently closed for the season, getting a dusting.
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This article originally published at San Francisco got unexpectedly soaked last night. Here’s how long the rain will last.