Marin rain totals mount as storm pattern persists

Thunderstorms, heavy rain and high winds swept through Marin County on Tuesday as a series of storms continued to move through the region.

The wind on Tuesday included a 54 mph gust along Pine Mountain Fire Road near Alpine Lake, said meteorologist Brayden Murdock of the National Weather Service.

Mount Tamalpais and Woodacre received 5.5 inches in the period from Sunday afternoon to 4 p.m. Tuesday, Murdoch said. Other rain totals during the 48-year period included 4.3 inches in Kentfield, 3.45 inches in San Rafael and 2.95 inches in central Novato.

Rainfall totals elsewhere in the Bay Area from Sunday to Tuesday afternoon included more than 2 inches in the Santa Cruz Mountains, 1.75 inches in downtown San Francisco and 1.6 inches in San Jose and Oakland, the National Weather Service reported.

The weather prompted Golden Gate Ferry to cancel service in Tiburon on Tuesday, said Paolo Cosulich-Schwartz, a spokesperson for the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District. Customers were offered bus rides for canceled ferry trips. The Angel Island ferry service also was suspended because of the weather.

Ferry trips between Sausalito to San Francisco also were suspended in the morning, but because of mechanical problems, Cosulich-Schwartz said.

The Larkspur ferry runs operated normally Tuesday. Cosulich-Schwartz said the Larkspur ferries are high-powered catamarans and the Larkspur terminal has “more favorable docking conditions in high winds and rain.”

Rain and high tidal waters prompted Caltrans to close the Highway 101 connector ramp to Highway 1 in Mill Valley from 11:30 a.m. to 3:10 p.m. Tuesday.

“It was opened up again when the floodwaters receded,” Caltrans spokesperson Matt O’Donnell said.

Elsewhere in the North Bay, lightning struck and toppled a large redwood tree near Woodside West School in Santa Rosa early Tuesday morning. The school was forced to close after the roof and windows were damaged. No one was on campus during the incident, school staff said.

Following a lull Tuesday night, forecasters expect a chance of rain Wednesday and Thursday.

“It’s not going to be as harsh as we saw today, but there is still a good chance for moderate rainfall,” Murdoch said.

More widespread chances of rain are in the forecast from Saturday night into Sunday morning.

“It’s kind of a progressive system so we’re not going to see all the rainfall at certain areas at once,” Murdoch said.

In the Sierra Nevada, Interstate 80 and Highway 50 were closed early Tuesday afternoon because of heavy snow, with no set time for reopening. Near Truckee, an avalanche came down on a group of skiers Tuesday morning. By the afternoon, six had been rescued and 10 remained missing, officials said.

The California Highway Patrol said the weather Tuesday was far more hazardous than on Monday, when three Bay Area residents were injured while putting on chains on Highway 50 near Tahoe. All three were hit by a truck that slid in the snow about 12:45 p.m. They were hospitalized with major injuries.

The Press Democrat and Bay Area News Group contributed to this report.