Despite what seemed like endless rain and high winds, beginning
late Thursday night and continuing through Friday, weather problems
were minimal. Rain – heavy at times – and scattered thundershowers
are expected to continue through Monday.
“The entire state of California is pretty much under the gun for
the next three or four days,” said Duane Dykema, a forecaster with
the National Weather Service in Monterey. “People are definitely
going to have to be wary if they have travel plans, especially if
they plan to go to the mountain
s.”
Despite what seemed like endless rain and high winds, beginning late Thursday night and continuing through Friday, weather problems were minimal. Rain – heavy at times – and scattered thundershowers are expected to continue through Monday.
“The entire state of California is pretty much under the gun for the next three or four days,” said Duane Dykema, a forecaster with the National Weather Service in Monterey. “People are definitely going to have to be wary if they have travel plans, especially if they plan to go to the mountains.”
A wind advisory is in effect in the area until noon today, and a high surf advisory for the Bay Area coastal region until Sunday, according to the National Weather Service.
The high winds should die down somewhat – to 10-20 mph instead of 25-35 mph – over the weekend. High temperatures for the South Bay will hover around 50, with lows in the low 40’s.
“Our Public Works Department did a really good job of clearing things,” Morgan Hill Police Lt. Joe Sampson said Friday. “This time last year, we had several problem areas. Now our canals and rivers and drainage ponds are really holding their own. We’ll keep our fingers crossed.”
Public Works crews were busy Friday making sure drains and culverts were’t clogged. City workers are on alert if problems surface today or Sunday.
Sampson said Friday that were no weather-related problems in Morgan Hill, in contrast with other locations in the Bay Area and across the state.
In the Uvas/Llagas watershed – which includes Gilroy, Morgan Hill, and San Martin – crews have inspected all the creeks, according to water district spokesman Mike DiMarco. They have given special attention underneath bridges and narrow points in the creeks, where debris can accumulate, back up water flow and cause floods.
Crews have cleared out such areas and will continue to patrol the watershed during the storm, according to DiMarco.
“This is something we do whenever a storm is coming in,” he said, adding that the water district does not foresee any major problems this weekend.
Local reservoirs, as of Friday, were not in danger of swelling beyond their capacity.
According to the Santa Clara Valley Water District at 4:30pm Friday, Anderson was at 48,400 acre-feet, which is 53.6 percent of its capacity. Chesbro was at 3,607 feet, or 45.4 percent of capacity. The highest level, in terms of capacity, was measured at Uvas at 4:30pm Friday, when it measured 6,542 feet, or 66.5 percent of its capacity.
The California Department of Forestry, which records rain levels at 8am each day, reported Morgan Hill had .40 inches of rain from 8am Thursday to 8am Friday. The Santa Clara Valley Water District reported .55 inches in the 24-hour period from 3:50pm Thursday to 3:50pm Friday.
Abundant rain during the last several weeks caused Sobrato High School in north Morgan Hill to be without phone service since returning to school after winter break on Jan. 3, according to Principal Rich Knapp. Knapp said he was told by SBC officials that water in the vault, or underground area where wires are hooked up, had caused the problem.
Knapp said administrators had five cell phones on campus, so they could call out if needed, but parents could not call in. The phones began working again late Thursday afternoon.
The rest of the Morgan Hill School District was in pretty good shape, with slight roof leaks in some school sites. Deputy Superintendent Bonnie Tognazzini said Friday the District Office lost phone and Internet service for a short time Friday morning, but the problem appeared to be hardware and not the weather.
Live Oak High Principal Nick Boden said the school’s student parking lot did not flood this year, as it did last year during a rainy period similar to the current series of storms.
With rain likely to last into next week, flooding becomes a concern for many in the area.
While the Santa Clara Valley Water District keeps an eye on local creeks to make sure they can handle approaching storms, the agency is asking residents to do the same to protect themselves and their homes from flooding.
Tips on what to do before, during and after storms are the focus of a multi-media flood-awareness campaign to help Santa Clara County residents protect themselves this winter.
“Flooding does, and can, happen in Santa Clara County,” said Joe Judge, chairman of the Water District board of directors.
Another storm, originating in Western Canada, was expected to move south through Washington and Oregon before reaching California on Friday night, offering no break between the storms.
Dry weather is not expected until the middle of next week.
Before most Morgan Hill residents were out of bed Friday morning, 743 residents lost power due to a tree becoming entangled with a power line, according to Jeff Smith, PG&E spokesman. The outage occurred at 4am, and power was restored at 5:28am.
Marilyn Dubil covers education and law enforcement for The Times. She can be reached by e-mail at md****@mo*************.com or phoning (408) 779-4106 ext. 202.
