More than 120 trees fell in Sonoma Valley storms

While the destruction in the wake two back-to-back atmospheric rivers has largely missed Sonoma Valley, some of the area’s sensitive ecological areas have not fared as well.

The heaps of rain and gusts of wind that pounded Sonoma Valley this week brought fallen trees, isolated flooding and minor landslides at burn-scarred mountainsides. Perhaps no place in Sonoma Valley is more sensitive or susceptible to heavy rainfall than Sugarloaf Ridge State Park.

“We had to clear over 20 trees that have fallen in the last few days,” Sugarloaf manager John Roney said. “It's a combination of the fire damage, the wind and the rain, which causes trees to come down over the roads and trails.”

Fallen trees are not only limited to area parks. Marc Foley, the owner and operator of Sonoma Valley Tree Service, said his crews have responded to more than 100 downed trees throughout Sonoma Valley in the recent storms.

“The soil is saturated and the roots are so weak from drought, so they’re getting root rot,” Foley said. “We’re talking years of weather going good and going bad.”

Most of the damage, Foley said, is near creeks in Sonoma Valley where water is “washing away the root ball” and causing trees to “fall like dominoes” along Sonoma Creek.

What’s in the weather?

Brayden Murdock, a meteoroligst at the Bay Area National Weather Service, said a cold front Wednesday will bring about 1 inch of rain to the Valley floor, and between 2 to 3 inches on area mountains.

“It's mostly going to be focused on North Bay – when you get down to San Francisco, it's gonna be less than half an inch,” Murdock said. “Afterwards, we kind of settle into wet patterns. Almost every day we’re seeing at least some chances for rain passing through.”

Murdock added, “Sonoma County is going to be the big winner across the Bay Area” with the next system, as rainfall will be focused toward the north.

“Luckily, not hefty rain like what we saw (Sunday) night,” Murdock said.

Lights out

Compared to the rest of the county, which saw mass power outages in recent days, the Valley has mostly kept the lights on.

Approximately 25 PG&E customers in Oakmont faced a power outage on Jan. 4, while another 35 customers on the east side of the city of Sonoma were left in the dark on Jan. 9, along with a single customer in Boyes Hot Springs.

Reservoirs revel with rain

Sonoma Lake, the main reservoir that feeds Sonoma Valley, has benefited greatly from the series of winter storms in late December and January after a prolonged period of drought.

On Dec. 9, 2022, Lake Sonoma’s water level was measured at 96,310 acre-feet – close to 40% of its total capacity of 245,000 acre-feet.

But after some of the most significant rainfall in recent memory, Lake Sonoma sat at 136,803 acre-feet on Jan. 5 and is projected to hold 217,803 acre-feet (88%) by Jan. 16, according to Sonoma Water.

Contact Chase Hunter at chase.hunter@sonomanews.com and follow @Chase_HunterB on Twitter.