Latest storm knocks down trees, causes traffic problems across Bay Area
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- The latest storm to hit the Bay Area brought heavy downpours, gusty wind and knocked down trees during Thursday morning's commute.
A tree about 100-feet tall crashed down across Summit Road and in to power lines about a mile away from Highway 17 in the Santa Cruz Mountains.
The road was blocked in both directions adding a 15 to 20 minute detour to the morning commute. The tree removal is expected to take all day.
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"I would say this has been a lot wetter than normal, but I love it at the same time. I would say all Californians love it, but they hate it when they have to drive in it," Los Gatos resident Ron Ricci said.
The National Weather Service had issued an urban/small stream flood advisory for the North Bay until 9 a.m. Thursday.
The NWS advised motorists not drive over flooded roadways and to report them to law enforcement.
ABC7 News Meteorologist Mike Nicco says this storm has been downgraded from a two to a one on our Storm Impact Scale and adds that we can expect thunderstorms and showers in parts of the Bay Area for the rest of the day.
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Wind gusts will range from 30 miles per hour to 45 miles per hour.
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Minor flooding is occurring on area creeks including Willow Brook at Penngrove Park as well as along the Sonoma Creek in the North Bay. The advisory is impacting more than 640,000 residents in the region.
And in the East Bay, a tree blocked the No. 2 lane of northbound state Highway 13 just south of Park Avenue, according to the California Highway Patrol.
The CHP said the tree went down just before 6:30 a.m. A solo-vehicle traffic collision was reported in the same area around an hour before the tree went down. It's not clear if the collision and the tree falling down are connected to each other.
Caltrans has been contacted, but it is not yet known when the tree will be cleared.
Dozens of other traffic incidents were reported in parts of the Bay Area Thursday morning due to the storm.
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Bay City News contributed to this story.
