Modesto area in the calm after the storm. But what’s ahead, weatherwise?
A break Sunday morning after the steady rain in the Modesto area Saturday allowed street flooding to subside, but additional precipitation was forecast — possibly up to an inch more by Monday morning.
Though it varied in heaviness, Saturday’s rain was almost nonstop. Weather watchers wouldn’t have known it from the Modesto Irrigation District, whose rain gauge was on the fritz and remained so Sunday. But the National Weather Service recorded 1.37 inches at the Modesto Airport from Saturday morning through the early hours of Sunday.
The heaviest rain was Saturday afternoon, and it created large puddles on streets and highways, causing vehicles to hydroplane. The California Highway Patrol received a report of flooded lanes on Highway 99 in central Modesto near the Kansas Avenue turnoff. Saturday evening, motorists in both directions slowed down to drive through the section flooded with shallow water.
The storm runoff also flooded Ninth Street near the Needham Street overcrossing. Minor traffic collisions on Highway 99 occurred around 6 p.m. from the Hammett Road interchange to Crows Landing Road, according to the CHP incident page.
The Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department said Saturday that it received reports of fallen tree limbs, water backing up and minor flooding on roads.
The National Weather Service issued a flood advisory into Saturday night for Stanislaus, Tuolumne, San Joaquin, Calaveras, Amador and Sacramento counties due to the likelihood of minor flooding in low-lying areas. The advisory included a warning of the danger of driving into flooded roadways.
Sunday morning, a Modesto police lieutenant said she knew of no remaining roadway flooding, and a CHP spokesman said he’d heard of no serious traffic-related crashes.
Saturday’s storm also included wind gusts of 30 to 35 mph that knocked over trees and limbs across the city and other parts of Stanislaus County. A Modesto police watch commander said there were 13 active reports of downed trees or tree limbs at 11:30 a.m. Saturday.
An incident report from the Modesto, Turlock and Stanislaus Consolidated fire departments released Sunday morning included responses Saturday to trees that had been uprooted and fallen onto houses. It also included responses to several noninjury vehicle collisions, wires down and utility pole fires. A Modesto Irrigation District spokeswoman said Sunday that there were a couple of scattered power outages Saturday.
The major storm that slammed into Northern California also delivered heavy snow to the Sierra, where snowy and windy conditions made driving extremely dangerous.
The California Department of Transportation District 10 said in a social media post that Highway 88 was closed from Carson Pass to Red Lake because of zero visibility. Caltrans said mountain travel was ill-advised this weekend because of the heavy snow.
“If you must travel, make sure to be prepared with chains in your vehicle for all four tires,” Caltrans said. Chain controls are in place on most roads in Tuolumne, Calaveras, Mariposa, Amador and Alpine counties, Caltrans said.
The area around Yosemite is expected to get four to five feet of snow by the time the storm passes through Monday.
The weather service put the chance of rain in Modesto on Sunday at 60%. It says the sky should gradually clear Monday and be mostly sunny Tuesday.
The chance of showers returns early Wednesday and, though slight, remains in the forecast through Saturday.
