A correction to an earlier version of this article has been appended to the end of the article.
The light, steady rain that washed over the Bay Area earlier this week morphed into showers early Thursday that dumped precipitation heavily, though briefly, in isolated areas — a bit of a final bow before the curtain closes on the first winter-like storm since the summer ended.
RELATED: Map: Where rain is falling in the Bay Area
“The second system is kind of overperforming,” National Weather Service meteorologist Roger Gass said.
That system came into the region on Wednesday as expected, following the first one that arrived Monday. In both cases, some areas of the region endured hours-long slow rain that fell without a lot of intensity.
“Intense drizzle is a good (image),” he said.
Somewhat unexpectedly, that second system brought more intense rain cells overnight, as showers scattered from the main part of the front, Gass said. Those cells generally were moving toward the central coast, which is where Gass said the most intense rain was expected to fall Thursday.
On their way, those isolated cells dumped six-tenths of an inch of rain on Livermore and a half-inch of rain on Hayward, according to 24-hour totals posted by the weather service at 1 p.m. Thursday. Downtown Oakland received four-tenths of an inch over the same stretch, as did Mineta San Jose International Airport. Two-tenths fell at Oakland International Airport, and a bit over one-tenth fell at San Francisco International Airport.
The weather also resulted in delays at the airport in San Francisco on Thursday morning. According to airport spokesperson Doug Yakel, about 71 flights were delayed, about 6% of the airport’s flights. The delays averaged about 20 minutes.
The heaviest rain continued to be on Mount Tamalpais in Marin County, where 2.65 inches of rain fell in a 72-hour period ending at 8 a.m. Thursday.
“The storm front is pushing south,” Gass said of the rain. “Generally, we’re expecting about an additional tenth of an inch, and as you go more and more south toward Monterey, it might be a quarter-inch.”
Those along the Central Coast might also see thunder and lightning, Gass said. The weather service put those chances at 10-20%, with the highest risk coming in San Benito County. Small hail also may fall.
By Friday, the weather service expects the rain in the region to be finished. The clouds will remain through Friday before sun bathes the area on Saturday and Sunday. Temperatures are expected to stay mild, with the hottest places expected to rise into the high 70s and possibly cracking 80 degrees over the weekend.
Correction October 4, 2025: An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported an open-water swimmer's name, her name is Colleen Haraden-Gorski.
