Stanislaus County pounded by wind, heavy rain. How long will flood advisory be in effect?
The latest storm to spread across Northern California brought wind gusts Saturday morning to Modesto, followed by drenching rain in the afternoon and localized street flooding.
Winds gusting at 30 to 35 mph knocked down tree limbs across the city and other parts of Stanislaus County. A Modesto police watch commander said there were 13 active reports of downed trees or tree limbs at 11:30 a.m. Saturday.
The heavy rain created large puddles on streets and highways, causing vehicles to hydroplane. The California Highway Patrol received a report of flooded lanes on Highway 99 in central Modesto near the Kansas Avenue turnoff. Saturday evening, motorists in both directions slowed down to drive through the section flooded with shallow water.
The storm runoff also flooded Ninth Street near the Needham Street overcrossing. Minor traffic collisions on Highway 99 occurred around 6 p.m. from the Hammett Road interchange to Crows Landing Road, according to the CHP incident page.
The Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department said it received reports of fallen tree limbs, water backing up and minor flooding on roads.
The National Weather Service issued a flood advisory for Stanislaus, Tuolumne, San Joaquin, Calaveras, Amador and Sacramento counties due to the likelihood of minor flooding in low-lying areas.
The advisory is expected to be in effect until 9:30 p.m. and included a warning of urban and small stream flooding. The Weather Service warned it’s dangerous to drive into flooded roadways.
Modesto received about an inch of rain in a seven-hour period Saturday, according to National Weather Service data. The Modesto Irrigation District said it experienced an outage with its rain gauge equipment and expects to update the district’s rainfall totals next week.
The major storm that slammed into Northern California also delivered heavy snow to the Sierra Mountains, where snowy and windy conditions made driving extremely dangerous.
The California Department of Transportation District 10 said in a social media post that Highway 88 is closed from Carson Pass to Red Lake because of zero visibility. Caltrans said mountain travel was ill-advised this weekend because of the heavy snow.
“If you must travel, make sure to be prepared with chains in your vehicle for all four tires,” Caltrans said. Chain controls are in place on most roads in Tuolumne, Calaveras, Mariposa, Amador and Alpine counties, Caltrans said.
The area around Yosemite is expected to get four to five feet of snow by the time the storm passes through Monday.
More rain is in Stanislaus County’s forecast for Sunday and Sunday night. The storm is expected to clear out Monday morning.
