Rain returns to Bay Area giving drought-weary locals cause for excitement

PETALUMA, Calif. (KGO) -- Sunday's rainfall was great news for the Bay Area and for Lake Tahoe where snow may be on the way.

Jessica Yau and daughter Olivia Rose were planting a new rose bush at their home, Garden Valley Ranch in Petaluma. It's home to 8,000 rose bushes and hundreds of varieties which all need lots of water.

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"Now that I know there's going to be days of rain, I'm super excited to get out and sow some seeds, so excited for rain," said Yau.

Jessica welcomed the rain as it started falling Sunday afternoon. She says the drought has made growing roses tough but the promise of more rain brings new hope for the season.

"The rain is super important to create a nice water table to help roses get through cold periods," she added.

This weekend we found a lot of people at the Windsor Ace Hardware store getting storm ready.

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"This downspout is going to be used to capture rainwater off a shed into a barrel, so we can use it in the garden," said John Hackenburg.

The ski department at Sports Basement in Berkeley was helping customers gear up for Tahoe, where snow is in the forecast.

"I guess it means we get to take our son to the mountains as soon as possible," said Alyson Fox from San Leandro.

The Lake Tahoe region is still recovering from the monster Caldor Fire which burned more than 200,000 acres last summer. Locals say several chances for snow this week is fantastic, after one of the driest summers in Tahoe history.

"It's good news and a real treat for the resorts, firefighters and just for moisture in the state of California," South Lake Tahoe resident Kevin Cooper.