San Francisco ends rainy season with pair of escalating storms

A pair of increasingly strong storms are bearing down on The City this week, which could represent some of the last precipitation to hit the Bay Area this rainy season .

The first system arrived Wednesday and was expected to bring less than a half-inch of rain between Wednesday night and Thursday morning, National Weather Service Meteorologist Rachel Kennedy told The Examiner.

But the “main event,” Kennedy said, will strike the region Friday, when as much as an inch of rain could blanket San Francisco alongside winds up to 25 mph.

The highest Bay Area peaks could receive as much as 1.5 inches of rain and gusts as fast as 40 miles per hour.

“Just remember to take extra caution on Friday when driving on wet roads,” Kennedy said. “If you have anything like you want to clean out the gutters or you want to clean streets or do anything outside, make sure to do that before the rain starts on Friday.”

The agency hasn’t issued any cautions for events like flooding or high winds during the week, but Kennedy said they’re “keeping an eye on things to see how things evolve.”

Kennedy maintained that neither storm will rival the more powerful weather events the region has experienced in the current water year , which runs from Oct. 1 through Sept. 30.

“Friday is comparatively going to be a lot stronger than [Wednesday], but not as strong as some of the other systems we’ve had this winter,” she said.

The bulk of the rain will fall throughout the day Friday, beginning in the morning and sustaining into the evening before tapering off early Saturday. Some showers might linger into Sunday.

The region’s rainy season typically lasts from November through the end of March, meaning these two bands of rain could “potentially” be among the last storms to hit the Bay Area, though Kennedy mentioned there could be “some systems” that pass through in April.

After the upcoming storms, a warm front is forecast to hit the region early next week, with temperatures rising into the mid-60s across The City.