A storm is bringing heavy rain to parts of Northern California on Monday night and Tuesday. In the Valley, there will be heavy rain from Lodi to Chico. Other cities, including Stockton and Modesto, will see much less rain and, therefore, very little impact. The impacts for Sacramento County will be for stream, creek and street flooding Tuesday and Wednesday morning. The Feather, Yuba and American rivers will bring large inflows into the reservoirs below them.The Cosumnes River, along with the Napa River and the Russian River, is expected to reach flood stage. The Cosumnes River’s flood stage is 12 feet at Michigan Bar, which is near Rancho Murieta. The river is expected to reach flood stage late Tuesday and early Wednesday. If the flood stage is reached, it could impact the Wilton area Wednesday and Thursday.Snow levels will vary, but the snow above 6,000 feet will be significant and might lead to road closures once again.It will get windy Tuesday, with the east side of the Valley and the lower foothills getting gusts over 45 mph, which could cause power issues. The rain will ease up after Wednesday morning. Rain and snow are forecast for the weekend, but not as heavy as the next 36 hours.Watch the video below for moreSacramento ForecastTonight: Rain. Low: 48.Tuesday: Rain and wind. High: 54.Wednesday: Showers. High: 56.The Valley will see periods of heavy rain Monday night and Tuesday. Rain will taper to showers on Wednesday.Sierra ForecastTonight: Snow. Low: 28.Tuesday: Snow above 6,000 feet. High: 36.Wednesday: Snow. High: 37.The Sierra will see significant snow above 6,000 feet on Tuesday. Snow will taper off on Wednesday.Foothills ForecastTonight: Rain. Low: 44.Tuesday: Wind and rain. High: 52.Wednesday: Showers. High: 54.The foothills will see heavy rain and gusty winds on Tuesday. Wednesday will have less rain. A storm is bringing heavy rain to parts of Northern California on Monday night and Tuesday. Advertisement In the Valley, there will be heavy rain from Lodi to Chico. Other cities, including Stockton and Modesto, will see much less rain and, therefore, very little impact. The impacts for Sacramento County will be for stream, creek and street flooding Tuesday and Wednesday morning. The Feather, Yuba and American rivers will bring large inflows into the reservoirs below them. The Cosumnes River, along with the Napa River and the Russian River, is expected to reach flood stage. The Cosumnes River’s flood stage is 12 feet at Michigan Bar, which is near Rancho Murieta. The river is expected to reach flood stage late Tuesday and early Wednesday. If the flood stage is reached, it could impact the Wilton area Wednesday and Thursday. Snow levels will vary, but the snow above 6,000 feet will be significant and might lead to road closures once again. It will get windy Tuesday, with the east side of the Valley and the lower foothills getting gusts over 45 mph, which could cause power issues. The rain will ease up after Wednesday morning. Rain and snow are forecast for the weekend, but not as heavy as the next 36 hours. Watch the video below for more This content is imported from Facebook. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site. Slideshow 5 photos Share Shares Copy Link Copy 7 Day Forecast and Map Room 1 of 5 PHOTO: KCRA 2 of 5 PHOTO: KCRA 3 of 5 PHOTO: KCRA 4 of 5 PHOTO: KCRA 5 of 5 PHOTO: KCRA Sacramento Forecast Tonight: Rain. Low: 48. Tuesday: Rain and wind. High: 54. Wednesday: Showers. High: 56. The Valley will see periods of heavy rain Monday night and Tuesday. Rain will taper to showers on Wednesday. Sierra Forecast Tonight: Snow. Low: 28. Tuesday: Snow above 6,000 feet. High: 36. Wednesday: Snow. High: 37. The Sierra will see significant snow above 6,000 feet on Tuesday. Snow will taper off on Wednesday. Foothills Forecast Tonight: Rain. Low: 44. Tuesday: Wind and rain. High: 52. Wednesday: Showers. High: 54. The foothills will see heavy rain and gusty winds on Tuesday. Wednesday will have less rain.<doc-sep>Weather Storm To Bring Heavy Rain, Thunder, Flood Danger To LA An an atmospheric river storm is expected to drop heavy rainfall across the region with an increased risk of mudflow in the burn areas. Reply A flash flood watch is in effect for LA's burn areas Wednesday and Thursday. (Jennifer Cook) LOS ANGELES, CA — A storm system swollen with moisture from an atmospheric river will bring rain to Southern California Tuesday afternoon through Wednesday, prompting the National Weather Service to issue a flash flood watch for all burn areas in Los Angeles, Ventura and Santa Barbara counties. Across Ventura and Los Angeles counties, the heaviest rainfall is expected late Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning, affecting the Thomas, Hill, Woolsey, Stone, South, Creek and La Tuna burn scars, according to the NWS. Peak rainfall rates are expected to range between a half-inch and 0.80 inches per hour. There is the potential for isolated thunderstorms, which could produce higher hourly rates, forecasters said. The flash flood watch will be in effect from 6 p.m. Tuesday until 11 a.m. Wednesday. "Shallow mud and debris flows will be likely, especially in the first- year burn areas, with the potential for more significant and damaging debris flows. In addition, roadway flooding is likely, especially in low-lying areas, along with rock and mudslides on canyon roads and below steep terrain," according to the NWS. Los Angeles County officials warned residents in the Woolsey Fire burn area -- where even small amounts of rain may cause significant mud and debris flows -- to prepare for the possibility of evacuations, road closures and power outages. Residents were urged to identify two exit routes, make plans for pets and family members with special needs and pack an emergency kit with extra medication, important documents and warm clothing. Additional sheriff's deputies, firefighters and public works personnel will be on patrol in the area through Thursday morning, according to the county. Authorities urged everyone to avoid crossing flowing streams or driving through flooded roadways. The rain will turn to showers by Wednesday evening, then showery conditions will persist through Friday, according to the NWS. Dry weather is expected Saturday, and showers are possible Sunday through Monday.<doc-sep>Click here if you’re unable to view the gallery on your mobile device. A powerful “atmospheric river” storm is expected to pummel Northern California starting Tuesday night and deliver heavy rain, gusty winds, downed trees, power outages and rough driving conditions Wednesday and Thursday. “It is a classic Pineapple Express,” said Bill Patzert, a research scientist and oceanographer who retired last year from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena. “It’s coming from deep in the tropics south of Hawaii aiming right at the West Coast.” This 3-hour precipitation loop off the latest NAM shows the expected timing of the rain from the next storm. Actual rain amounts may be higher in the coastal hills than what the NAM is forecasting. #cawx pic.twitter.com/8ZtP6PMfy5 — NWS Bay Area (@NWSBayArea) February 12, 2019 The storm should bring up to 5 feet of new snow in the Sierra Nevada, forecasters said. The National Weather Service announced flash-flood and high-wind warnings for the Bay Area, along with Santa Cruz and Monterey counties, from 10 p.m. Tuesday to 10 p.m. Thursday. And fears of mudslides prompted Caltrans on Monday to close a section of Highway 1, south of Big Sur, in both directions starting at 5 p.m. Tuesday. In the Bay Area, the first big push of rain is forecast to arrive over the North Bay late Tuesday and spread inland Wednesday. “Rain will spread over the area early Wednesday morning and impact the morning commute quite a bit,” said Spencer Tangen, a meteorologist with the weather service in Monterey. “Rain may be heavy at times as the atmospheric river moves onto land.” Late last week, meteorologists and scientists studying computer models included the potential for this atmospheric river storm, which at the time was projected to be centered over Central or Southern California. But over the weekend the forecast shifted, and the storm is now expected to have a greater impact in the Bay Area and Northern California, they say. This potent storm is the result of a cold front moving down from the Pacific Northwest, combining with a plume of subtropical moisture moving in from Hawaii, according to the weather service. GOES-17 shows two troughs- one off the Pac NW coast and one near Hawaii. These will phase (combine) on Tuesday. This will cause an #AtmosphericRiver with a tropical tap to take aim at California on Wednesday. #CAwx #CAstorm pic.twitter.com/WQMwUlUfHj — NWS Bay Area (@NWSBayArea) February 11, 2019 In the Bay Area, storm totals from Tuesday night through Thursday morning are forecast to range from 2 to 3 inches in the North Bay, 1 to 2 inches along the Peninsula, East Bay and South Bay and 4 to 6 inches along the coastal mountains, with some mountain areas receiving 8 inches. “There is still some uncertainty with how much rain,” will fall and how long it will last, Tangen said. Sustained winds of 30 to 40 mph are expected Wednesday with gusts of 60 to 70 mph in the hills. “Given the saturated soils and expected rainfall, trees will likely come down,” the weather service wrote in its Monday forecast. Unlike last week’s storms, this week’s won’t bring snow to Bay Area peaks. Forecast lows overnight are expected to remain in the 40s with daytime highs in the 50s. Atmospheric rivers are a particularly moisture-heavy, intense type of storm. They can be 250 miles wide, 1,000 miles long and can carry 20 times as much water per second as the Mississippi River where it empties into the Gulf of Mexico. Such storms are vital to the water supply of California and other Western states, with about a dozen providing up to 50 percent of the annual water supply in most years. They also can cause damage and flooding. Patzert said as of Monday afternoon it looked as if the storm will cause some localized flooding and snow blizzards in the Sierra, but that overall it will benefit California’s water supply, particularly by boosting groundwater tables still low in some areas after the 2012-16 drought. “It could be the most intense storm so far of this winter,” he said. “There’s always minor damage, but the bottom line here is water, and this is good for the water supply.” Wednesday’s storm is expected to rank as a 3 on a new scale of 1 to 5 that scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography and other research centers developed recently, Jay Cordeira, a meteorology professor at Plymouth State University in New Hampshire, said on Twitter. Meteorologists still are watching the trajectory of the storm to forecast where the heaviest rains are expected. “There will be intense downpours in the coastal mountain ranges,” said Andrea O’Neill, a meteorologist and oceanographer with the U.S. Geological Survey in Santa Cruz. “We already have saturated soils, so that becomes a hazard for streams and flooding and landslides.” “The potential is there for local impacts to be extreme,” she added. “But it depends on where it plays out and where it makes landfall.” Caltrans announced Monday it will close Highway 1 south of Big Sur beginning at 5 p.m.Tuesday in landslide-prone areas. The closures are at Mud Creek, near Ragged Point, the scene of a massive landslide in May 2017 in which millions of tons of earth buried the road 9 miles north of the Monterey-San Luis Obispo county line. The second closure is at Paul’s Slide, about 13 miles north of Mud Creek near Lucia. New scale to rank ‘atmospheric rivers’ like hurricanes – Read the article Although small-stream flooding is expected in some places, major rivers are not expected to flood, according to the weather service. But local agencies are watching closely. “That kind of intense rainfall can cause localized flooding, but we’re not expecting Anderson to fill or anything like that,” said Marty Grimes, a spokesman for the Santa Clara Valley Water District, referring to Anderson Reservoir near Morgan Hill, the largest of 10 district reservoirs. “Anderson has plenty of room in it.” On Monday, Anderson Reservoir was 37 percent full. The reservoir filled in 2017 during heavy storms and its releases contributed to $100 million in flood damage to downtown San Jose. The water district has been letting water out since last week to keep Anderson’s level lower as more storms roll in. Matt Startsev, 13, of Danville, bikes to the summit of Mount Diablo in unincorporated Contra Costa County on Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2019. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group) Lincoln Feinstein, 6, of Los Gatos, eats a snowball and walks to school with his mother, Kourtney Feinstein, as snow covers the Santa Cruz Mountains along Summit Road on Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2019, in Los Gatos, Calif. (Jim Gensheimer/Special to Bay Area News Group) Doug Dahn, 18, Clarke Clemmons, 17, and Harrison Pavel, 18, of Danville, from left, carry surfboards as they hike to the summit of Mount Diablo in unincorporated Contra Costa County on Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2019. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group) Mark Armstrong, of San Ramon, takes in the view from the observatory after hiking to the summit of Mount Diablo in unincorporated Contra Costa County on Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2019. It was (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group) Sue Rohlicek, front, and Gayle Lightfoot, both of Pleasant Hill, hike to the summit of Mount Diablo in unincorporated Contra Costa County on Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2019. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group) Snow hangs onto grape vines Regale Winery as snow covers the Santa Cruz Mountains along Summit Road on Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2019, in Los Gatos, Calif. (Jim Gensheimer/Special to Bay Area News Group) Enzo Ingwaldson, 7, of Danville, plays in the snow with family members on Mount Diablo in unincorporated Contra Costa County on Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2019. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group) A snowy view of the Morgan Territory is seen from near the summit of Mount Diablo in unincorporated Contra Costa County on Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2019. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group) Mark Sinclair shovels a path on the summit of Mount Diablo in unincorporated Contra Costa County on Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2019. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)<doc-sep>
Less than a week after an atmospheric river devastated parts of Northern California and stranded a couple of thousand people for two days in Sonoma County, another major storm is expected to hit the Bay Area Tuesday. Light rainfall will arrive to the region around sunrise Tuesday and grow heavier throughout the day to dampen both the morning and evening commutes, said Roger Gass, a National Weather Service meteorologist. Tuesday’s storm is connected to another atmospheric river, which brings subtropical moisture into California from the waters south of Hawaii. However, forecasters said the worst of the rain is expected to hit the Central Coast around Big Sur, where rainfall totals could near 6 inches at the highest peaks, before moving south into San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara. The storm is expected to reach the entire Bay Area and deliver widespread rainfall, but the North Bay — already reeling from last week’s destructive floods — is not likely to be affected to the point of the Russian River overflowing its banks again. North Bay valleys could see 1.25 inches of rain, and some parts of the North Bay mountains will see up to 2.5 inches of rain, according to the National Weather Service. “We don’t expect it to be a concern for rivers, as these rainfall amounts are pretty small,” Gass said. San Francisco will likely get up to three-quarters of an inch of rain, while Oakland and San Jose will likely see closer to two-thirds and half an inch, respectively. The coastline could also see gusts between 35 and 40 mph at night, forecasters said. As the storm moves into the Sierra, more snow is expected for the mountains with up to a foot slated for elevations above 7,000 feet. Most of the moisture will pummel the range south of the Tahoe basin, said Tony Fuentes, a National Weather Service meteorologist. “Once the cold front comes in, the snow we’re going to get is a heavy, wet type of snow,” he said. A cold air mass moving in Friday morning could bring lighter snow showers to the region, according to the National Weather Service. In the Bay Area, the storm should diminish by Wednesday afternoon, but scattered rainfall may persist throughout the region the rest of the week. “We can’t completely rule out an isolated shower or two,” Gass said. The unsettled weather pattern is expected to continue into next week with a chance of rainfall in the Bay Area and light snowfall in the Sierra, according to the National Weather Service. Forecasters originally predicted 2019 would be yet another dry year but the cycle of rainstorms has taken rainfall totals in the opposite direction, said Drew Peterson, a National Weather Service meteorologist. “It’s mostly been beneficial rain, outside of flooding in the North Bay, which has sorely been needed and eased some of the longer-term drought concerns across the state,” he said. San Francisco has received 109 percent of the average rainfall for the water year to date, which began Oct. 1. Oakland is right on the average, San Jose is at 109 percent of normal and Santa Rosa stands at 128 percent for the water year. Gwendolyn Wu is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: gwendolyn.wu@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @gwendolynawu