The beginning of another week brought another soaking storm with cold temperatures and strong wind gusts to the region.
The brunt of the latest significant rain storm hit South County just after lunch time on Tuesday, March 21, as a heavy band of rain and wind approached. Visitors to downtown restaurants in Morgan Hill bundled up in rain gear and held umbrellas over their heads as strong winds blew streams of torrential rain nearly parallel to the ground.
The National Weather Service issued a severe weather alert and wind advisory due to the forecast. Wind gusts exceeding 50 mph were reported throughout the Bay Area. Mount Umunhum in Santa Clara County had the highest recorded wind speed of the day in the region at 78 mph. Temperatures didn’t climb much higher than the upper-40s in Morgan Hill and Gilroy on Tuesday.
PG&E reported thousands of power outages caused by downed trees and power lines, although South County was spared significant electricity loss as of early Tuesday night. The City of Gilroy’s offices, including the police department, suffered a brief phone system outage in the early afternoon.
Valley Water’s online rain gauges for the 24-hour period that ended 7pm March 21 showed between .87 and 1.6 inches of rain fell in different areas of Gilroy and Morgan Hill since the previous night.
NWS forecasts for South County called for more rain on Wednesday, with the skies clearing up by Thursday morning and through the weekend.
