Back-to-Back Storms Batter Healdsburg

We’re now three days into these back-to-back President’s Day weekend storms, with a day or two left to go of heavy rain, wind and possible thunderstorms. Local rain gauges show we’ve gotten at least 4 or 5 inches since Friday, with 1 or 2 more inches still in the forecast. The branch of the National Weather Service that monitors Russian River water levels here in Healdsburg said that as of 5 p.m. today at Digger’s Bend, the river was only two feet below the line where it floods. (I’m not quite sure what kind of threat that poses; if anyone has more information, please feel free to reach out and school me.) Other than that, there have been reports of some trees falling in our area; PG&E’s power-outage map showed at least a couple hundred properties out Dry Creek didn’t have power on Monday evening; and the usual flood-prone roads just southeast of Healdsburg, like Mark West Station Road and Trenton-Healdsburg Road, have been closed off by the county so that no one gets stuck in the floodwaters. (You might remember someone actually died out there last winter.) Overall, though, the Press Democrat reports that this system lacks “the powerful, consistent wind gusts of the tropical storm that wreaked havoc on the North Coast two weeks ago.” A rep from the Sonoma County Fire District told the PD earlier today: “We’ve been really lucky this time around. The call volume is not what it was like during that last storm.” Hopefully that holds true til the end! The “wind advisory” issued yesterday by local weather officials remains in effect through tomorrow morning, and their “flood watch” remains in effect through Wednesday morning. (Source: National Weather Service & National Weather Service & PG&E & Sonoma County Government & Sonoma County Fire District via Facebook & Tempest & Press Democrat; paywall)