Storm brings much needed rain to South Bay

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (KGO) -- A system that moved in overnight brought some much needed rain to the South Bay. It did cause accidents and plenty of inconvenience, but given the drought, folks say they'll take it.

Early this morning, the Santa Cruz Mountain Summit saw a mix of rain, showers and drizzle. In wet weather, Highway 17 turns slick, go too fast on a turn and you can end up on the side of the road. Down the hill, on the Los Gatos side there was a nice, beautiful rainbow to look at as cars backed up for miles trying to get into the valley.

Lexington Reservoir serves a stark reminder of the reality of how much rain we need. The reservoir is at just 12.7 percent of capacity. The 10 reservoirs in the Santa Clara Valley Water District sit just above 30 percent capacity.

The Santa Cruz Mountains ended up with .85 inches of rain from the system. The region is still more than a half inch below average for this rain year that started in July.