Winds Ease & Sun Shines, But Another Storm May Be Lurking: Forecast

SAN FRANCISCO — The sun may be out, but the Bay Area is still feeling the impacts of a powerful atmospheric river that swept across the region Tuesday into early Wednesday.

Wind gusts proved even stronger than advertised, topping out at 97 mph at Loma Prieta, hitting 90 mph in Marin County's Lucas Valley, and reaching 77 mph at the San Francisco International Airport.

Powerful winds spurred widespread power outages Tuesday, and nearly 160,000 PG&E customers were still without power by mid-morning Wednesday. South Bay residents suffered the brunt of it, making up nearly half of the total outages across the Bay Area. During the peak of the storm Tuesday afternoon, 300,000 people were without power.

RELATED: 15 Photos Show Devastated California in Wake of New Atmospheric River

The gusts also created some scary situations on the road, including a Walmart truck that was knocked over on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge. Downed trees and power lines prompted a full closure of Highway 1 overnight near Carmel. In Santa Cruz County, a breached levee eroded an embankment near the Pajaro Bridge in Watsonville.

Authorities in Monterey County issued evacuation orders for a few areas along the Salinas River from San Ardo to San Lucas after the river reached flood stage, and flood warnings remained in effect Wednesday near Spreckels.

Fortunately, the Bay Area should be treated to mostly sunny skies through Thursday, with a small chance for rain returning Friday and into the weekend. But forecasters are already tracking the next storm.

"Lingering flooding concerns will persist over the coming days, even though precipitation has ended," NWS Bay Area wrote Wednesday. "Fair weather will continue through late week with light precipitation expected over the weekend. There is increasing confidence in more widespread rainfall during the first half of next week."

Forecasters said another deep plume of moisture appears headed for California next week, but early models make it difficult to nail down the "what, where and when."

The models have yet to reach a consensus on where the focus of the rainfall will be. However, long-term outlooks from the Climate Prediction Center show an 80 to 90 percent probability for above-normal precipitation across the entire Bay Area and Central Coast from March 20 to 24.

"Stay tuned as winter is not over with yet," forecasters added.