Rain drenches region; more expected Christmas day

FAIRFIELD — The wet weather is back and it isn’t going away anytime soon.

While the sun peeked out a bit in Solano County Saturday, the rain clouds returned Sunday.

Last-minute Christmas shoppers were inundated, not only with heavy traffic but with the occasional flooding on some roadways and Interstate 80 ramps.

Fairfield-based meteorologist Mike Pechner said the good news is that the rain will hold off Christmas Eve through Christmas morning. The bad news: It’s coming back Christmas night.

The sun is expected to return Monday, according to AccuWeather, with a high temperature of 52 degrees and low temperature of 38 degrees.

“It’s a good time to go carolling,” Pechner said.

Pechner recorded 1.25 inches of rain in Fairfield overnight Sunday and 1.77 inches of rain overnight in Vacaville.

Though there will be some minor flooding, Pechner said the wet weather is actually a good start to the new year for Solano County.

“We’ll have extra water going into spring,” he said. “It may be a nuisance, but it’s good for agriculture.”

The long-range forecast predicts wet, cold weather from Christmas day through the beginning of January, according to Pechner.

Motorists in the area faced some hazardous conditions Sunday.

Solano County Fire reported on its Facebook page a closure at Vanden and Newcastle roads due to flooding about 1:46 p.m. Flooding also forced the California Highway Patrol to temporarily close Ledgewood Road between Suisun Valley Road and Mankas Corner in Fairfield about 4:30 p.m.

California Highway Patrol officials reported some minor fender benders in the Solano County area but no major collisions tied to the weather.

Traffic, however, in other Bay Area counties was a mess.

Eastbound I-80 at Applegate in Placer County was temporarily closed because of multiple spinouts, according to Caltrans. Westbound I-80 at the Nevada State Line was also temporarily closed due to spinouts.

Caltrans issued a high-wind advisory Sunday for the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as well as the Carquinez Bridge near Vallejo. The National Weather Service issued a warning for small watercraft that ended Sunday evening.

It was unclear if the wind was behind a few power outages that lasted several hours in the Fairfield-Suisun City area Sunday evening. PG&E said it was assessing the cause of the outages that affected more than 4,000 customers starting at 7:19 p.m.

The recent storms have added to the snowpack in the Sierra Nevada.

Boreal Mountain Resort in Soda Springs reported 36 inches of new powder Sunday with a 64-to-101-inch base, according to The Associated Press. The resort had 5 of its 8 lifts open Sunday.

Heavenly at Lake Tahoe reported 36 inches of new powder Sunday with a 36-to-65-inch base, according to the AP. The resort had 90 of 97 trails open, covering 4,400 acres, Sunday.

Reach Heather Ah San at 427-6977 or hahsan@dailyrepublic.net. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/HeatherMalia.

Adrienne Harris contributed to this report.

Heather Ah San

Heather Ah San covers Rio Vista, features and general news for the Daily Republic. She received her bachelors of art degree from the University of Oregon.

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