While downtown San Francisco probably won't beat its daily record for rainfall today — 2.01" of rain fell on September 18th in 1959 — many parts of the SF Bay Area will receive precipitation totals that far exceed their historical averages for this month.
This much-needed Bay Area rainstorm is expected to see most of its rainfall between tonight and early Monday morning, and daily records for rainfall are already being broken. But what's most surprising (in a good and welcomed way) is that most parts of the Bay Area are expected to hit "double to quadruple'' the amount of rain they usually receive this entire month, according to the San Francisco Bay Area chapter of the National Weather Service (NWS).
If you love numbers...here ya go! May see a few daily records on Sunday, but the big takeaway is that this storm will give many sites double to quadruple their monthly average for rain. #cawx #BayArea pic.twitter.com/4q3LgqZKpE
— NWS Bay Area 🌉 (@NWSBayArea) September 18, 2022
"If you love numbers...here ya go! May see a few daily records on Sunday, but the big takeaway is that this storm will give many sites double to quadruple their monthly average for rain," reads a tweet from the weather agency.
September rainfall normals (1991-2020) were corrected, see column that's highlighted. pic.twitter.com/cEV8aT2ZEf
— NWS Bay Area 🌉 (@NWSBayArea) September 18, 2022
NWS Bay Area also hinted at today's gusty wind conditions in a comment — "it will still be windy over the bay, gusts forecast between 20 to 25 mph." However, the forecasted wind conditions escalated to an active Wind Advisory Sunday that will stay in effect until 4 a.m. Monday; gusts as strong as 45mph could affect parts of the region, though winds between 30mph and 35mph are expected to be more common.
SF's downtown is forecasted to see rainfall today that's five times more than the usual average for the entire month of September; Napa, Santa Rosa, and San Jose, too, will see healthy amounts of precipitation.
While this Bay Area-wide rainstorm won't pull us out of severe drought conditions, any amount of rainfall is welcomed — especially as wildfires continue burning throughout Northern California.
Related: Parts of San Francisco and the North Bay Could See Over Two Inches of Rain By Monday
Feature Image: Getty Images/Cole Amaya