An atmospheric river that blew into the Bay Area on Wednesday has dropped several inches of rain on the North Bay and is expected to spread further south through the region later this week, according to the National Weather Service.
The heavy rain, which prompted a flood advisory for a portion of Sonoma, Napa and Mendocino counties, has been accompanied by strong winds, with gusts of up to 55-65 mph in higher elevations Wednesday, the weather service said.
The most precipitation was reported at a spot near Austin Creek in coastal Sonoma County that had about 7 inches of rain in the past 24 hours, weather service meteorologist Brayden Murdock said late Wednesday afternoon.
The second-highest amount was reported in Venado, an area of Sonoma County west of Healdsburg that had nearly 6 inches of rain during that time period, Murdock said.
He said there have been isolated reports of flooding and small mudslides and rockslides in parts of Sonoma County and there are continued chances of flooding in the area later Wednesday.
The heavy rain is expected to mostly stay in the North Bay overnight but "into Thursday and Friday is when it really starts to affect the Bay Area proper," Murdock said.
The windy weather is at least expected to taper off somewhat, with a wind advisory the weather service issued Tuesday night set to expire at 6 a.m. Thursday.
On top of the heavy rains and high winds, there are chances of thunderstorms in the Bay Area late Friday into Saturday and the wet weather is expected to continue through at least Tuesday of next week, according to the weather service.
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