Bay Area atmospheric river: Damaging winds, rain lead to delays at SFO and power outages

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — An atmospheric river brought damaging winds and heavy rain to the Bay Area Wednesday morning, which has led to several delays at San Francisco International Airport and power outages impacting thousands of customers.

Airport officials say they are currently experiencing an average of 2 hours and 2 minutes for inbound flights due to low clouds, while departing flights are seeing an average delay of 2 hours and 18 minutes.

TIMELINE: Atmospheric river brings rain, damaging winds to Bay Area

Here’s a look at delays as of 10 a.m.:

• Total delays today at San Francisco Int’l: 167




• Total delays within, into, or out of the United States today at San Francisco Int’l: 167




• Total cancellations today at San Francisco Int’l: 10




• Total cancellations within, into, or out of the United States today at San Francisco Int’l: 10

As for power outages, the largest is impacting customers in San Rafael, where thousands have been without power since as early as 3:45 a.m.

The wind and rain also led to a messy morning commute with reports of a tree down on I-980 in Oakland.

ABC7 News Meteorologist Drew Tuma says Pine Mountain in Marin County recorded a wind gust at 73 miles per hour, while other Bay Area cities saw winds in excess of 40 miles per hour.

Thankfully, Drew says the damaging winds and worst of the rain are expected to move out of the area after 9 a.m.

However, he says we can’t rule out a scattered shower this afternoon and winds will be less than 15 miles per hour.

Big storm means power outages, flooding across Bay Area

Stormy conditions meant a lot of surprises around the region thanks to the wind and the rain.

The rain, the wind, and the rising water made for some wild weather in parts of the Bay Area.

In Mill Valley, along Miller Avenue by Camino Alto, streets were closed off because of flooding.

At Tamalpais High School, we encountered a couple of students scrambling to pull their cars out of the student parking lot because of rising tide water.

Boston Nahigian went barefoot because there was so much water.

“It was probably a foot, a foot and half. I had to pull up my jeans, and it got about halfway up my shin, to right about here,” Nahigian said.

Nahigian got his car out in the nick of time.

“My friends said it got to about as close to the exhaust without going in,” Nahigian said.

Heavy rain and slick road conditions often mean fender benders. In Novato, police say an SUV driver hydroplaned off the freeway down a ravine.

Earlier in Wednesday morning, there was a wet waterfront in San Francisco. Powerful waves slammed onto the sidewalk along the Embarcadero.

In Downtown San Francisco, umbrellas were getting a lot of love as people headed on their way to and from the office.

The rain tapered off, giving way to gusty conditions.

Strong winds swept away the leaves. For some folks and their four-legged friends, it was a chance to enjoy a brisk walk.

Back to Mill Valley and the Tam Junction area, much of the tide water receded late this afternoon. What started as atmospheric river conditions has tapered off. But many Bay Area residents take it all in stride.

“I don’t think we could fool with Mother Nature. I don’t think we have a choice on any of this,” said Jan Hiti.

With the strong gusty winds, came concerns about downed trees and power lines.

PG&E said at the peak Wednesday, about 4,100 Marin and Sonoma County customers were without power.

Late Wednesday afternoon, that number was down to about 200 customers.

Watch the latest AccuWeather forecast and take a look at recent weather stories and videos.