San Francisco Bay Area Weather, Wind Storm Causing Problems

The San Francisco Bay Area and the surrounding outlying areas are having some wicked weather today. High winds and localized flooding are making news. Several of my good friends are in that mess and I have been getting reports from them via email and one message board all morning long.

Here is a rundown of some of the reports from my friends in the surrounding areas of the San Francisco Bay Area:

At 10:25 the San Anselmo Creek siren went off, warning of flooding. At the same time my friend's large gas barbeque went flying across the yard and into her back fence.

In San Francisco on Market Street another friend reported very high winds and a large object falling from on of the buildings and breaking windows on it's way down.

In Tracy, just about an hour from Oakland, the heavy metal sign for "Trav'ln Toys" a horse trailer and utility trailer lot has been torn down by the high winds. One of the workers at Trav'ln Toys posted photos on the message board I mentioned above. Tracy has always been known as a high gusty wind area is getting a double dose of it today. I know the area well and lived there for 7 years.

In the Santa Cruz Mountains, Bear Creek Rd is closed near Boulder Creek due to power lines down.

The CHP website, for road condition updates, has been slow or not available due to high traffic to the site.

Just visiting some of the Bay Area websites such as the Tracy Press, and KGO TV in San Francisco have proved to be slow or not available.

Most of my friends live on small ranches or properties that have livestock. Most of them are reporting that metal roofs from barns are being peeled back like bananas. Almost all of them are staying inside for fear of flying metal. Many tall trees are being snapped like twigs. Several companies have told their employees not to come into work. San Francisco Airport has canceled the majority of flights due to the high winds. Minor road flooding has been reported but many of the road closures are due to trees or power lines down.

A high wind warning has been issued for all the bridges in the area and drivers show be careful. I remember when I had to cross those bridges under similar circumstances years ago and I can tell you that when there is a high wind warning on those bridges it is best to drive a low profile car across.

So far about 3-4 inches has falling since midnight. In some parts of the country that would not seem like a lot but in the San Fransico Area that would be cause for concern due to drainage problems and lack of creeks and streams to carry the water away from built up areas.