?Storm closes roads, knocks out power to thousands ?around Sonoma County

Torrential rainfall throughout the night swamped roadways, creeks and rain gauges with totals of more than 5 inches in hilltop communities like Cazadero and more than 3 inches elsewhere in Sonoma County, pushing the Russian River toward flood stage.

Forecasts had called for more than 3 inches of rain in the Sonoma County hills and this storm delivered that and more since Monday.

This latest storm to pummel much of the state is reminiscent of January's tempests. Flooded roads funneled morning commuters onto detours or into single lanes on major thoroughfares like Highway 101. In the Sonoma Valley, Highway 12 in Schellville was closed due to flooding as was the 12/121 junction at Arnold and Fremont Drive.

Volunteer weather watchers for the National Weather Service checked in with 3.69 inches in Geyserville, 3.2 inches in Windsor, 3.44 inches in Healdsburg, 3.18 inches in Cloverdale and 3.06 inches in Boyes Hot Springs.

Three rain reports in Cazadero showed 4.29-5.32 inches fell in those coastal hills since Monday morning. In Santa Rosa, one report was as high as 2.99 inches.

Mendocino County reports included 4.23 inches in Laytonville and 2.34 inches in Ukiah. A Calistoga resident reported 3.35 inches. The volunteer amounts aren't from official weather stations but offer forecasters a sense of differing weather within the same areas.

Flooding now is expected along the Russian River, now predicted to crest at 34.4 feet before dawn Wednesday in Guerneville. Flood stage there is 32 feet. Tuesday morning the lowest areas already were slipping under the water, including the parking lot at the beach in Monte Rio.

Power outages

Early Tuesday reports of falling trees and downed power lines slammed emergency dispatchers who were in constant contact with PG&E officials, alerting them to new problems.

Fierce winds, falling trees and limbs helped knock out power to thousands on the North Coast, including 634 customers in the Cloverdale area and 114 customers southwest of Sebastopol plus numerous smaller outages dotting the region.

Road issues

Flood water forced the CHP to close a southbound Highway 101 lane at the Sonoma-Marin county line, reducing the region's main arterial to one lane for part of the morning commute.

About two dozen Sonoma County roadways were closed in spots. In the west county the main issues appeared to be a closure on River Road between Sunset Avenue and Westside Road due to a slide. A slide also was blocking a lane on Highway 1 in Bodega Bay.

Throughout Sonoma County at 8 a.m. there were 10 roads closed from flooding, 5 from mudslides and 3 from fallen trees, according to a Sonoma County road report.

“The biggest thing for us is the slides,” said Monte Rio Fire Chief Steve Baxman. “We've had 8-10 news ones, everywhere you go.”

CHP officers throughout the Golden Gate region, which includes the Bay Area north through Sonoma and Napa counties, were responding to 140 calls at 8 a.m. That compares to a typical morning with 20-30 or so reports of crashes and issues at any one time.

Falling trees

Multiple trees reportedly fell into homes during the night, including one along Gates Road in east Santa Rosa off of Calistoga Road and a huge tree into a home on Vine Avenue in Sebastopol. Further details weren't available early Tuesday.

Also in the east county, dispatchers were notified about 6:30 a.m. of a sewer spill on Boyes Boulevard that was flowing into Sonoma Creek.

School closures

School closures in Sonoma County were at Piner-Olivet Union School District campuses except for Schaefer Elementary, Guerneville School District and Harmony Union in Occidental, Piner-Olivet Union School District in west Santa Rosa, Two Rock Union School District in Petaluma and Flowery Elementary School in Sonoma.

You can reach Staff Writer Randi Rossmann at 521-5412 or randi.rossmann@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter@rossmannreport.