Thunderstorms and 22-foot-tall waves possible in Bay Area weekend weather forecast

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- The weekend is going to be blustery, chilly and stormy, according to ABC7 News meteorologist Mike Nicco.

While the chance of showers is dwindling a bit, the attention now turns to the possibility of thunderstorms and a high surf advisory.

Dangerous surf conditions are expected to start Friday afternoon and last through the night. Swells could reach 22 feet with very erratic waves, very gusty winds at our beaches, Nicco said.

Blowing sand and blowing waves are not a good combination. "Do not turn your back on the water if you are going to go to the beach today," added Nicco.

RELATED: Lake Tahoe could see up to foot of snow this weekend, warm streak to end in Sierra

The cooler, windy, wet weather brings an abrupt change to the Bay Area forecast after a dry start to the typical rainy season.

Nicco says Friday is expected to be our best change of rain since the surprise storms in August.

"Our potential thunderstorm threat is going to develop Friday afternoon and linger through the night," said Nicco. "It's a scattered event. It's a 1 on our Storm Impact Scale, which is the lowest level. It's light, but still -- there's the possibility of lightning, small hail, brief downpours and gusty winds."

Gusts topping 25 to 50 miles per hour are possible.

In fact, "the closer you are to the coast, the more likely you're going to have some scattered showers and thunderstorms," said Nicco.

Neighborhoods within about 30 miles from coast will be under the threat of thunderstorms from 4 a.m. Friday until 4 a.m. Saturday.

He says expect a little bit of a lull as we head through Saturday.

A slight chance of lingering showers are possible Sunday morning with a "better chance of some much needed snow in the Sierra," said Nicco.

The wet weather should clear out by Sunday afternoon.

So, how much rain can we expect?

"Rainfall amounts are unfortunately very dry with this system and they are scattered with some people receiving no rain to other people receiving up to two-tenths of an inch of rain," said Nicco. "This is definitely not going to end the fire season, but it did end the streak of record high temperatures."