by Haya El Nasser and Julie Schmit, USA TODAY
The worst of the third storm to hit Northern
California in less than a week passed over much of the region Sunday,
leaving at least eight rivers at flood-watch stage.
Flood
concerns, including for the Susan, Napa and Russian rivers north of San
Francisco, will likely continue through midweek, Brad Alexander of the
California Emergency Management Agency said.
The region was soaked
this week when a series of storms dumped about 20 inches of rain - 3 to
6 inches in the past 24 hours, said Todd Morris, meteorologist for the
National Weather Service's western region.
The latest storm was
the most severe of three consecutive storms that have drenched much of
Northern California and Nevada since Tuesday. Parts of the region got
more rain and snow in the last week than the average for the entire
month of November.
Christmas parades and tree-lighting ceremonies
in Sparks, Nev., and Truckee, Calif., were canceled because of the
weather. Along the Northern California coast, swells up to 14 to 16 feet
were expected and a high surf advisory was issued.
"We'll
have a break Monday, but we're going to see a fourth storm that's going
to approach the West Coast," Morris said. "Fortunately for everybody in
the West, this fourth storm appears to be weaker."
Sandbagging was
going on in numerous cities, including Sacramento and Napa. So far,
flooding has been on a small scale, with a few houses here and there,
Alexander said.
Jim Brandt, owner of the Napa General Store,
surveyed the Napa River flowing 10 yards away from his window Sunday.
The fast-moving water carried a lot of extra debris, but a massive flood
wall protects the downtown in the city at the heart of wine country.
The wall was under construction during a flood in Napa in 2005.
"We
expect to stay dry," Brandt said. Minor flooding is more likely in more
low-lying agricultural areas north of the city, he said.
Northern
California and Nevada had more than rain to contend with. Winds were so
strong that the Sierra at Tahoe, a Lake Tahoe ski resort, had to close
Sunday. It's expected to reopen Monday.
Wind gusts of more than 60
mph hit the San Francisco Bay Area and more than 70 mph in Reno. In
higher elevations near Mammoth Ski Resort, winds exceeded 100 mph.
Officials were keeping an eye on hillsides burnt out in previous wildfires that are prone to mudslides in heavy rain.
"There's definitely a potential for that," Morris said.
Schmit reported from San Francisco
Contributing: The Associated Press