Live Updates: Atmospheric River hits Bay Area with heavy rain, threats of flooding

The heavy rain created flooding, rockslides and intense driving on the roadways in Sonoma County.

In the North Bay, the atmospheric river arrived Wednesday morning as the first storm of the season. The heavy rain created flooding, rockslides and intense driving on the roadways.

Heavy rain from the atmospheric river arrived with a vengeance in Sonoma County and didn't let up.

"At first it was cool, but now it's kind of scary," said Sergio Reyes from Santa Rosa.

Heavy rain made the drive on Highway 101 through Santa Rosa intense.

On College Avenue, cars were barely getting through the high water. Signs were posted, warning drivers to slow down.

"So, with this atmospheric river, it's hitting us now. Currently, we're at the monitoring stage, but we are starting to see nuisance flooding coming up on the roadways," said Karen Hancock from Sonoma County Fire District.

In Healdsburg, heavy rain brought rocks and mud down onto Fitch Mountain Road. It toppled a utility pole, bringing down power lines.

Pacifica Pier was closed Wednesday due to the high surf on the Peninsula.

On the Peninsula, some of the highest wind gusts Wednesday could be experienced in Pacifica.

The Pacifica Pier was closed due to the high surf. High waves slammed the shore and crews worked to repair a 20-foot sinkhole that opened along the seawall.

"I've never seen anything like this," said Kerry, a woman from Woodland who came to Pacifica with her family.

"My sister-in-law and I came to that building right there and a big wave hit her, drenched her. She said it almost knocked her over," Kerry said.

Visitors came from other parts of the Bay Area too, like Simon Barrad from San Francisco, who was impressed by how strong the wind was.

"It's pretty powerful and kind of exhilarating to experience," he said. "A little scary, but I don't know. It's kind of cool to be here."

Still, even with those visitors checking out the setting, locals say the weather has definitely kept most people away.

"I mean on a normal day like today, it would be, there'd be at least 20 people here, 30, 40, you know, people on the pier, street vendors trying to sell, art and so on. So, it's pretty crazy," said David Malloy who reacted to how empty the area appeared.

City of Pacifica's Public Works Director John Mullins said that the department had been preparing for the stormy weather for a while now.

The 1800 block on Beach Boulevard was closed after a large sinkhole opened up, following King Tides last week.

Crews worked around the clock for over three nights to secure the area. They capped things off Wednesday morning, just as the high winds and surf started coming in.

Though the pier was closed and the wind and waves made for a difficult walk, no one we spoke with Wednesday afternoon was sorry for the experience they took in.

"No regrets. Just a little wet, but it really is kind of cool to experience the power of nature and the, the waves and the wind," Barrad said.

The Golden Gate Bridge Highway and Transportation District canceled its service between Tiburon and San Francisco just after 8 a.m.

Heavy rain and strong winds hit Marin County Wednesday as an atmospheric river continued to sweep across the North Bay.

Those winds took down a tree in San Anselmo, where fire crews worked to remove it from a busy roadway.

"If anybody sees any road blocked or power lines downed, it's recommended to call 911," said Mari Ochoa, spokesperson for the Marin County Fire Department.

The storm also impacted ferry services.

The Golden Gate Bridge Highway and Transportation District canceled its service between Tiburon and San Francisco just after 8 a.m.

"Generally, when we need to suspend ferry service, it's due to winds and winds that particularly affect docking. And Tiburon, in particular, is a challenging dock to arrive to or depart from. And so, when the winds are strong and from particular angles, it can make it very, very challenging," said Paolo Cosulich-Schwartz.

While the Tiburon service was down, other ferry routes were still operating as normal.

In Sausalito, we ran into Sonya Rhodes and her husband, who were visiting from Dallas and took the ferry from San Francisco.

"It was choppy, but it didn't bother us. We did okay with it. There were only about five people on the ferry, so I think it's impacting their business," Rhodes said.

Rhodes said she and her husband were determined not to let the bad weather negatively impact their trip.

It was a sentiment we also heard from fellow tourist Gail Leggett, who says the rain wasn't stopping her from getting a little shopping done.

"Unless it's gale force winds. In which case, I become Mary Poppins with the umbrella, and I might reconsider," Leggett said.

As for everyone else, county officials are recommending you limit your time outside and on roadways.

They also want to remind people to have evacuation plans and go-bags ready.

"Making sure you have water, food, the medicine. Anything you require to kind of be able to hunker down in your home safely with your family is recommended," Ochoa said.

The storm is impacting travel around the Bay Area, particularly at San Francisco International Airport due to high winds, according to FlightAware as of 2:45 p.m.:
Flights to-and-from San Francisco range anywhere from 39 minutes to more than two hours.

According to FlightAware, 355 flights at SFO have experienced a delay, and 50 have been canceled. That's about 32% of all SFO flights delayed and about 4% canceled.