Central Coast soaked as storm hits California

San Luis Obispo County welcomed heavy rains Thursday as a cold front crawled through the Central Coast and battered California with wet weather.

Forecasts predicted even more rainfall overnight into Friday, accompanied by high winds and — by the weekend — below-freezing temperatures in the North County.

As of 11:10 p.m. Thursday, Rocky Butte between Lake Nacimiento and San Simeon had registered 4.53 inches of rain over 24 hours, the most of any spot in SLO County, according to SLO County Water Resources. (See complete rain totals here.)

A flood advisory was in effect for the western part of the county, with the possibility of debris flows and small-stream flooding in the Chimney Fire burn area.

Caltrans crews closed Highway 1 in both directions Thursday evening after a rock slide near Ragged Point, according to the CHP. A Sig Alert was issued at 7:27 p.m., and the highway was shut down for 30 miles north of Ragged Point, the CHP said.

During the day Thursday, county roads were relatively free of weather-related incidents. But there were reports of a small mudslide on Avila Beach Drive and flooding west of Paso Robles near the intersection of Adelaida and Nacimiento Lake drives, according to the CHP.

Jim Shivers, Caltrans’ public information officer, said crews were “ready to respond 24/7 if necessary” Thursday night and into Friday.

Strong winds were expected early Friday morning, with gusts between 30 and 35 mph predicted for San Luis Obispo, Atascadero, Paso Robles and Cambria between 1 and 4 a.m., the National Weather Service reported.

Elsewhere, a winter weather advisory has been issued for Interstate 5 along the Grapevine and through the Cuyama Valley, as snow levels could fall to 2,000 feet by Friday evening. The advisory is in effect from 2 p.m. Friday through 6 a.m. Saturday, according to the National Weather Service.

Storm soaks Bay Area and beyond

Wet weather hit the San Francisco Bay Area, with a small town in the North Bay receiving nearly 7 inches of rain over a 24-hour period, forecasters said.

More than 100 flights in and out of San Francisco International Airport were canceled and about 360 were delayed for minutes to hours because of weather concerns, airport duty manager Brian Horne said.

Venado, a remote former lumber town west of Healdsburg, was hit the hardest as the storm moved from the North Bay into San Francisco and the Central Coast.

Some creeks in those counties were over flood stages, and other areas were poised to get a good soaking later.

By nightfall, San Francisco had recorded more than an inch of rain over a 24-hour period, with areas farther north seeing 2 to 4 inches and 5 to nearly 7 inches recorded in some areas of the Sierra Nevada.

The storm was beginning to move into Southern California, which has seen barely a drop of rain all winter. The National Weather Service forecast anywhere from a half-inch to 3 inches of rain in the region through Friday morning.

Flash flood watches and warnings were issued for areas up and down the state, especially those where brush fires had denuded hillsides and mountain slopes.

A half-inch of rain per hour would be enough to send those hillsides tumbling and the storm was expected to dump that and more in some areas, forecasters said.

In Los Angeles, fire stations were handing out sandbags.

“We’re concerned about mudslides and flooding,” city fire spokeswoman Margaret Stewart said.

Get out quickly if “things go bad,” she urged residents of foothill and burned areas. “Don’t take the risk of being trapped in a mudslide.”

High winds also were expected, gusting to 75 mph at times in southern mountains and 60 mph in desert valleys.

The storm wasn’t a surprise in the northern half of the state, which has been downright soggy this year. Forecasters say San Francisco’s 12 days of rain in October were the most in a single month in more than a century.

San Francisco received 2.43 inches of precipitation in October, which was more than double the total from a year earlier.

Drivers were urged to take it easy on slick roads.

CHP Officer Andrew Barclay said drivers should avoid standing water, where they might lose control of their vehicle.

“My biggest suggestion right now is slow down and have patience,” Barclay said in Marin. “It’s going to take longer than normal to get home tonight, don’t rush.”

In Healdsburg, antique dealer Greg Sheldon said driving conditions were difficult there.

“Some of our streets are flooded here. I had 2 feet of water in one of my lanes,” said Sheldon, who works at Antique Harvest. “There’s just tons of water coming off, the ground is so saturated right now. Every field is a big lake.”

Chris Daniels, who also works in Healdsburg and lives nearby in Windsor, said she was worried about getting home Thursday night.

“I have a creek behind my house,” she said. “It’s just about ready to go over our road. I’m just hoping I can get back into my house”

In the Sierra Nevada, winds gusted to about 100 mph at times over ridgetops early Thursday, posing a risk of toppling trees weakened by drought. A winter storm warning remained in effect through 4 a.m. Friday around Lake Tahoe, where 1 to 3 feet of snow was expected at the upper elevations.

This story was originally published December 15, 2016 at 10:15 PM with the headline "Central Coast soaked as storm hits California."