Flash flood warning issued for Napa County; flood advisories cover most of Bay Area

By Carlos E. Castañeda

The National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning for a portion of Napa County, where heavy rain has been falling on Monday.

The flash flood warning was for the Pickett Fire burn area in west-central Napa County and was originally set to expire at 3:30 p.m. Monday, but was extended to 4:15 p.m. and again to 5 p.m.  The Pickett Fire burned nearly 7,000 acres in late August-early September northeast of Calistoga.

The Weather Service said at 2:43 p.m. that between 0.5 and 0.7 inches of rain had fallen, and the rainfall rate is expected to total a half-inch to one inch over the next hour. Life-threatening flash flooding was ongoing or expected to begin shortly, with the resulting debris flow moving through the Simmons Canyon and areas near and between Pickett Road to Silverado Trail, the Weather Service said.

Residents were urged to move away from recently-burned areas, especially those with steep terrain. 

Bay Area flood advisories

In addition, the Weather Service issued flood advisories for most other Bay Area counties, including Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, Sonoma, San Francisco, and San Mateo counties, as well as northwestern Santa Cruz County.

Up to a half-inch of rain has fallen as of 4:30 p.m., and an additional half-inch to an inch was expected over the area.

The flood advisories were set to expire between 9 and 10 p.m.

In San Jose, the fire department responded to reports of someone trapped in a vehicle stuck in a flooded area near Hamilton Way and Keesling Avenue. The fire department said when crews responded, there was no one trapped in the vehicle, but there was a vehicle possibly still stuck in the floodwaters.