The back-to-back atmospheric rivers that pelted the state this past week are now gone, though a separate, weaker system is expected to bring rain today and tonight before sunny skies return for the rest of the week.
“We’re going to have rain Wednesday and Wednesday night,” said Sara Purdue, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Sacramento. “Then it’s going to be partly sunny to sunny, with more sun as we move into the weekend. High’s will be in the mid-50s and lows in the high 30s.”
Today’s rain won’t cause nearly the mayhem that last week’s storms caused, with downed trees and power lines, road closures, flooding and power outages were reported throughout the county.
According to reports, power outages affected a few thousand customers in the Turlock and Modesto irrigation districts over the weekend, with power lines down at Yosemite Boulevard and Geer Road, near the Fruit Yard Restaurant.
Stanislaus State and Modesto Junior College professor Ryan Hollister, who provides unofficial rain totals from his weather station in east Turlock, reported that the recent storms nearly brought Turlock to its yearly average just four months into the rain year.
“I don’t have official Turlock totals, but my personal rain gauge totaled about 1.5 inches since (Saturday),” said Hollister. “My running total is at 11.5 inches since Oct. 1, which puts us with an inch and a quarter of officially recognized 12.77 inches annual average rainfall.”
Hollister also said that winds for our area topped out at 43 mph, according to the CalTrans anemometer located near Highway 99 and Golden State Boulevard.
“I suspect there some stronger gusts,” Hollister pointed out. “We just don’t have a dense network of accurate data in Turlock, like found at airports.”
It was the gusts that caused most of the damage in the region, causing power outages on multiple days.
Throughout the state, more than 1 million PG&E customers lost power, with about 50,000 still without electricity, according news reports.
Fallen limbs could be seen throughout the city over the past few days.
“Our residents can expect to call the city to remove any fallen trees or branches that are causing a safety hazard by blocking the public sidewalk or roadway,” the city of Turlock announced in a statement Tuesday. “Any trees or branches that have fallen within the property would be the property owner/resident responsibility to remove and dispose of.”
Call 209-668-5594 during normal business 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. or by calling TPD dispatch at 209-668-1200 after hours.
