Flooded Roads
The drive on the morning commute in Oakland around 880 was a messy one, with very low visibility as cars made their way through wet conditions.
Wind and rain stayed consistently throughout the morning. On eastbound I-580, ABC7 crews came across flooding on the side of the road leading to the Oakland Avenue/Harrison Street exit, which had impacted traffic in that spot earlier.
Drivers trying to commute across the Bay Area say it's been a rough morning. Flooding has been seen on roads all across the region.
In the North Bay, Green Valley Road in Graton is closed due to flooding, as water is cascading over the roadway into a nearby vineyard.
There was also flooding on Fulton Road in Santa Rosa, leaving the right-hand lane pretty much submerged before city officials helped clear a storm drain.
Sonoma County Fire says up to two inches of rain fell in parts of Windsor.
Trees Down
There have been reports of damage across the Bay Area caused by trees toppling from the storm and high winds. In some areas, winds reached over 70 mph.
Strong winds took down a tree and parts of a fence at a home in Santa Rosa. Crews are also working to clean up branches and debris from fallen trees in Oakland and San Francisco.
Downed trees have contributed to thousands of power outages, and PG&E crews have been out working to restore power in impacted areas.
Air Travel
Starting at 7 a.m. Thursday, the Federal Aviation Administration ordered flights destined to arrive at San Francisco International Airport be delayed as a precaution while inclement weather blankets the Bay Area.
The Air Traffic Control System Command Center issued a ground delay program that initially caps arriving flights to 28 an hour before incrementally increasing if weather conditions approve. Aircraft will delay their departure from airports across the country as SFO works to stagger the arrival of flights.
SFO spokesperson Doug Yakel said the delays are intended to keep flying safe for the public.
"When weather like this reduces visibility, the FAA increases the separation between aircraft to keep flying safe. This increased separation causes delays," said Yakel. "This storm is causing high winds from an atypical direction, which forces us to use an atypical pattern for takeoffs and landings, essentially 180 degrees from the normal configuration. This is less efficient and also contributes to delays."
According to Yakel, 46 flights have been canceled at SFO while 113 have faced delays to some extent. While the current delays are averaging 20 minutes, mainly for short-haul flights along the West Coast, the FAA warned the delays could extend beyond an hour.
The airlines seeing the highest number of cancellations are regional carrier SkyWest, United Airlines, and Southwest. Some cuts in flights, however, are the result of mandated FAA flight reductions from last week during the federal government shutdown.
While the government has reopened after Congress passed a continued resolution Wednesday night, the FAA and Department of Transportation have yet to release an update regarding a return to regular service levels from before the government shutdown.
All passengers traveling through SFO and other Bay Area airports are strongly encouraged to check with their carriers as to the status of their flights.
Bay City News contributed to this story.
Stay with ABC7 News for updates on this developing story.