TIMELINE: Atmospheric river brings heavy rain, strong winds with flood watch to Bay Area

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Wednesday's atmospheric river will be a level 3 on the ABC7 Exclusive Storm Impact Scale.

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The worst impacts including flooding and downed trees will come Wednesday evening after sunset.

WATCH: Latest AccuWeather forecast

ABC7 News weather anchor Spencer Christian has the latest on the Level 3 strong storm impacting Bay Area Wednesday.

LIVE UPDATES: Latest on Level 3 storm moving into Bay Area

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

TIMELINE

• 4/5/6 p.m.: This is when we will be in the worst of the storm. High winds, heavy rain at times. May start to hear of storm damage.


• 11 p.m.: Winds will have calmed down, but rain will still be heavy in spots. Likely hearing of flooding reports and trees down.

RAINFALL

• Heaviest rain will fall in the evening. Highest impacts will be seen after sunset.


• Expecting 4"-7" in our coastal hills, 3"-5" in the North Bay, 1"-2" for the rest of the Bay Area.



• Soil is saturated and runoff will occur quickly. Roads, smaller streams and creeks will see flooding.


• Shallow landslides will likely happen (think mud on roads and not necessarily massive boulders).


• Currently, none of our rivers have a high chance of flooding.


• Flood Watch in effect for the entire Bay Area

TIPS: How do you recover from hydroplaning?

So you hit a puddle while driving and now you're hydroplaning. Don't panic -- here's what you need to do:

WIND

• Gusts up to 45 mph possible in the afternoon and evening.


• In the Santa Cruz Mountains we could see gusts up to 60 mph.


• Saturated soil is like oatmeal. Trees have no stable surface and will come down easily.


• Power outages are likely in areas, especially in the Santa Cruz Mountains.



• Wind advisories and warnings are in effect

SNOW

• Winter Storm Watch for the Sierra starting Wednesday morning


• 1-2 feet of snow above 6,000ft


• 3 feet of snow on highest peaks

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

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