Is Rain Headed for the Bay Area? Forecasters Say Maybe

By Bay City News Service:

Long-awaited rain was expected to arrive in the Bay Area Wednesday afternoon, but it likely won’t be much.

Light rain and drizzle was forecast arrive in the North Bay Wednesday afternoon and then move south across the region and should arrive in the Santa Cruz area overnight, National Weather Service officials said.

Some inland areas in the East Bay and South Bay will likely see little or no rain at all.

The most rainfall will be in northern Sonoma County, where Cloverdale is expected to have nearly a quarter-inch of rain. The rest of the Bay Area is only forecasted to get less than a tenth of an inch.

As the weather moves through the region, some isolated lightning was possible in the North Bay Wednesday afternoon and in the North Bay and East Bay on Thursday, NWS forecasters said.

The U.S. Coast Guard is warning that the weather could bring strong ocean swells and rip currents and is urging boaters to take caution.

The strong southwesterly swells are expected to impact the coasts of Marin and Santa Cruz counties most significantly. Southwest beaches are most at risk and jetties, inlets and piers are particularly prone to stronger and more frequent rip currents, Coast Guard officials said.

Swimmers who get caught in a rip current should swim parallel to the coast to escape the current before trying to swim to shore, according to the Coast Guard.

(Image via Shutterstock)