Healdsburg Storm Watch: What to Expect

Winter’s latest big storm arrived in Healdsburg this morning. A “flood watch” went into effect in the wee hours, and will stay in effect until early Friday morning. Today alone, weather forecasters are predicting we’ll get up to 4 inches of rain in the valleys and 6-plus in the hills. With that kind of volume over such a short period, flooding obviously becomes a serious risk. “Excessive runoff may result in flooding of rivers, creeks, streams, and other low-lying and flood-prone locations,” local weather officials say. “Flooding may occur in poor drainage and urban areas. Low-water crossings may be flooded. Storm drains and ditches may become clogged with debris.” Watch out for strong winds and small landslides over the next couple of days as well. If you need sandbags, Healdsburg city staffers are handing them out at the community center. Prediction models for the Russian River show it could rise to 16 feet at the spot where they measure it in Healdsburg on Thursday morning — a few feet below the spot where officials start to worry about river flooding. After all that, the forecast shows some rain will likely still be sputtering down on Friday and Saturday — and then another heavy rainstorm may hit Sunday. Scientists do want to make it clear, though, that these incoming atmospheric rivers are nowhere near worthy of the “California biblical-storm hysteria” that’s reportedly been sweeping social media. So try to stay calm, carry on, etc… (Source: City of Healdsburg & National Weather Service & National Weather Service & SF Gate)