TIMELINE: Bay Area under flood watch Sunday with potentially stronger atmospheric river

Saturday, February 3, 2024
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- As the Bay Area recovers from storm impacts from this past week, wet weather will continue with a strong storm coming on Sunday, bringing flood watches.

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WATCH: Latest AccuWeather forecast
AccuWeather Forecast: Storm upgraded to Level 4 system


Saturday will be a Level 1 Storm with spotty showers before heavy rain and wind make their way in the evening.








On Sunday, it will now be a Level 4, upgraded from a Level 3, on the Storm Impact Scale.

The storm is growing in intensity. We could see higher rain totals. Winds are also expected to be stronger -- there's a chance of gusts of 60-70 mph at the surface and 80 mph in the hills/mountains. Light rain begins this evening in the South Bay and moves northward. The heaviest rains are expected between midnight and 4 a.m. and will overspread the area.

  • 5-7" of rain is expected over the highest peaks of the Santa Cruz Mountains.

  • 1.5-2.5" is expected for the Santa Clara Valley & East Bay.

  • 2.5"-3.5" San Francisco, Oakland, East Bay Hills, lower elevations of San Mateo, North Bay Interior Valleys


  • LIVE RADAR: Track storms as they move through the Bay Area with Live Doppler 7

    Sunday's atmospheric river:



    • Rainfall totals will actually be highest on the Peninsula/Santa Cruz Mountains, closest to the axis of heaviest rain in Central CA.

    • The Santa Cruz Mountains will take the brunt of this storm with 60 mph wind gusts, up to 8" of rain.


    • I would expect the worst storm damage to be along the Peninsula Coast/Santa Cruz Mountains

    • 1"-3" of rain for most cities, but not out of the question to see some cities approach 4" Sunday

    • Flood Watches are posted for the entire Bay Area. Flooded roads, streams, creeks, landslides are all possible Sunday morning.

    • High winds will also be a problem. Gusts 50-60 mph which would bring trees down, power outages.

    • Heavy snow in the Sierra Sunday into Monday with 2-4 feet of new snow










    Watch the latest AccuWeather forecast and take a look at recent weather stories and videos.


    Bay City News contributed to this report.

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