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QUICK HITS:
- Storm to intensify during the overnight hours
- Flooding: South First at Parkway Blvd in Dixon; southbound lanes shut down
- Wind Gust: 69 MPH recorded at Sky Ranch on Mount Vaca west of Vacaville
Refresh this page for the latest updates on the January 4 & January 5, 2023 atmospheric river and bomb cyclone severe weather event...
1:30 p.m.: The bomb cyclone was more of a "bummer cyclone" for Solano County, but other parts of Northern California were torn up by the storm — and forecasters say two more storms could dump a significant amount of rain on the local area over the next week.
Our coverage has ended for now, but we'll be following the next two storms and will jump back in with updates if they warrant. Thanks for following over the last 24 hours.
2 a.m.: We're pausing coverage for the moment to take an extended break, but will be monitoring the weather conditions and will have updates in the future.
12:55 a.m.: The California Highway Patrol has shut down Meridian Road in rural Vacaville bewteen Hawkins Road and Elmira Road due to flooding.
12:30 a.m.: The National Weather Service has issued an Areal Flood Advisory for Solano County and surrounding areas until Thursday at 10 a.m. The National Weather Service says urban and small stream flooding is expected due to excessive rainfall in the advisory area, which also includes Yolo County and Sacramento County.
In a forecast bulletin issued just after midnight, the National Weather Service said it is concerned about several locations in particular — among them, Davis, Woodland and Dixon.
12:15 a.m.: CalTrans has closed the right shoulder of westbound Interstate 80 near the East Monte Vista ramp in Vacaville. The closure is expected to remain in place until Thursday afternoon.
Thursday, 12 a.m.: The top wind speed in Solano County on Wednesday was recorded on the hill just east of Vallejo and north of Benicia, according to an interactive map provided by the National Weather Service.
More than an inch of rain has fallen across most of Solano County, with the unincorporated community of Elmira recording nearly two inches of rain over the last 24 hours.
11:45 p.m.: There is a significant amount of flooding on the road in Dixon at the intersection of South First Street and Parkway Boulevard. At least one vehicle is stuck in the water there; police say no one is inside the sedan.
11:30 p.m.: The National Weather Service is warning of strong rain and wind throughout the night that could cause downed trees and power lines along with localized urban flooding. Driving on area roadways has been challenging tonight; if you have to drive, give yourself plenty of time on the road.
11:15 p.m.: Dixon police are reporting a significant amount of roadway fooding along South Almond Street at Sunset Drive. It isn't clear if the road is being closed due to flooding.
10:40 p.m.: Vacaville police and fire are on the scene of a two-vehicle crash along the westbound lanes of Interstate 80 near the East Monte Vista Avenue onramp. No injuries, but the number 3 and 4 lanes are blocked.
9:50 p.m.: We're starting to see the rain pick up again across Solano County as a new storm band moves through the area. Already, some parts of Solano County -- including Vacaville, Elmira and Suisun City -- have logged well over an inch of rain for the 24-hour period.
9:15 p.m.: Pacific Gas & Electric has started restoring power to much of Vallejo after a storm disrupted service there Wednesday evening. At its peak, around 3,500 customers were without power; currently, just over 300 customers are in the dark.
8:35 p.m.: Things are calm throughout Solano County at the moment, but another line of strong rain and heavy wind is expected to cross through south Solano County (Vallejo, Benicia) within the next 60-90 minutes. The cluster is moving northeast, so areas of Suisun City, Vallejo and Dixon will experience the same strong rain and wind in the coming hour or two.
8:20 p.m.: More than an inch of rain has fallen at the Nut Tree Airport in Vacaville, with the city itself reporting an inch of rain, according to an observation map made available by the National Weather Service.
Suisun City and Vallejo have recorded nearly a full inch of rain attributed to this storm.
8:05 p.m.: The City of Benicia is asking residents to avoid driving on local roadways after several trees fell on streets in the town. Emergency crews are working to remove the trees from the roadway, but there is a high possibility that more will fall in the Benicia area throughout the night as the storm continues to move through the region.
8 p.m.: The California Highway Patrol is reporting serious roadway flooding west of Winters. The flooding is on State Highway 128 near The Horseshoe, where about a half-foot of water has pooled onto the roadway.
7:40 p.m.: Fairfield firefighters are responding to the area of Rockville Road and Willotta Drive after receiving a report that a large tree branch has fallen onto a utility line.
7:25 p.m.: The number of customers without power in Vallejo has grown to over 3,500 throughout the city, according to an analysis of a power outage map reviewed by Solano NewsNet.
The majority of the power outages are on both sides of Interstate 80 south of Redwood Street, east of Tuolumne Street, north of Georgia Street and west of Columbus Parkway.
More power outages throughout Solano County are expected as the night goes on.
7:15 p.m.: More than 100 PG&E customers in the Green Valley area are without power due to a downed utility line. Fairfield Fire Department and CHP are on the scene, PG&E is headed to the area to restore power, but it's not known when that will happen. The California Highway Patrol has shut down Rockville Road at Auld Court, so PG&E crews can address the situation.
7 p.m.: A 69 MPH wind gust was recorded at Sky Ranch on Mount Vaca west of Vacaville just before 7 p.m. this morning, according to an interactive National Weather Service map. This is the strong wind gust recorded in Solano County so far during this storm.
6:45 p.m.: Hundreds of people are currently without power in multiple parts of Vallejo, according to PG&E.
The outages include:
- Between Sacramento Street and Sutter Street, south of Ohio Street and North of Kentucky Street
- West of Tuolumne Street and south of Florida Street in the area of Gibson Park
- Columbus Parkway south of Blue Ridge
PG&E says it does not have an estimated time for restoration of service.
6:10 p.m.: More than 200 PG&E customers are currently without power, the utility reported Wednesday evening. The outages are concentrated in two areas: Between Sacramento Street and Sutter Street south of Ohio Street and north of Kentucky Street, and in neighborhoods around Gibson Park and Children's Wonderland west of Tuolumne Street and south of Florida Street. PG&E says it does not know when power will be restored to these areas.
6:05 p.m.: The rain is really starting to come in parts of Solano County, with the Nut Tree Airport in Vacaville recording about a quarter-inch of precipitation Wednesday evening. Similar measurements have been recorded in Suisun City, on Travis Air Force Base and near Benicia.
5:50 p.m.: The CHP is reporting roadway flooding, with anywhere from a half-inch to three inches of standing water along westbound Interstate 80 near the Interstate 505 interchange in Vacaville.
5:45 p.m.: CalTrans has updated freeway messaging signs to warn drivers to stay off local roadways until after the storm has passed. We are already hearing reports of crashes and spin-outs on local roads due to the rain and wind.
5:30 p.m.: The wind is starting to pick up across the county as the first rain band moves through. A 54 MPH wind gust was recorded at Sky Ranch on Mount Vaca west of Vacaville this evening; Mount Vaca tends to be breezier than the rest of the county due to its higher elevation.
5:05 p.m.: The first significant rain band from the storm is starting to cross through western parts of Solano County, including Fairfield and Benicia, which were experiencing heavy rain around 5 p.m. Expect more of this to cross through the region this evening.
4:55 p.m.: The bomb cyclone spinning off the coast of Northern California is starting to weaken in intensity as it approaches, but the storm will still bring moderate rain and heavy wind throughout the evening that will cause structural damage, downed trees and power outages.
Forecasters appear to agree that the rain won't trigger widespread flooding inland as was experienced over the weekend, but localized urban flooding may still occur on surface streets.
4:40 p.m.: We're keeping an eye on the creek water levels throughout Vacaville this evening. The Alamo Creek water level at the Peabody Road bridge started increasing around 6 a.m. Wednesday.
4:10 p.m.: Monitoring the water level along the Sacramento River near Rio Vista. The water level has touched the "monitor stage" throughout the week, and we're expecting it to hit the monitor stage again tonight during the storm. There's no indication the Sacramento River in the Rio Vista area will hit the flood stage.
4 p.m.: Our first road closure report comes from the Woodland area, where the CHP has shut down County Road 25A at County Road 99 south of the city of Woodland due to roadway flooding concerns. Yolo County roads along Interstate 505 between Madison and Woodland are known to flood during storms weaker than what we're expecting on Wednesday.
3:45 p.m.: Comcast is warning Xfinity Internet, TV and phone customers that they may lose service in Solano County due to the storm that will intensify as the day progresses into night. Comcast's Xfinity Wireless customers use Verizon's network; if Verizon's network is impacted by the storm, Xfinity Wireless customers will probably also lose service.
3:40 p.m.: This is part of the latest weather bulletin published by the National Weather Service office in Sacramento, which covers all of Solano County:
"Don't be fooled by the relatively quiet weather we are seeing this afternoon. Our storm is still looking impressive on satellite, and we will begin to see more impacts as we head into the evening and overnight. We saw rain move through the region this morning associated with warm air advection dropping 0.10-0.50 inches of rain.
"This storm will have multiple impacts, but the biggest will be the strong winds we will see. They have been slower to develop in our area, but we are seeing widespread gusts 30-50 mph to our west along the coast with some gusts 50-75 mph. These strong winds will move into our area during the afternoon and evening as the surface gradient tightens ahead of the approaching cold front. The strongest wind gusts are expected between 7 pm and 1 am with widespread gusts 45-55 mph in the Valley with gusts as high as 65 mph over the northern Sacramento Valley. Gusts over the mountains will be 45-70 mph, with the highs gusts over the peaks. Winds will gradual diminish overnight, but will remain breezy into the early part of tomorrow afternoon.
"Widespread rain is going to move back into the area this afternoon, starting over the coastal range as the cold front pushes into the region. Rain will continue to overspread the area during the evening and overnight and will be moderate to heavy. The heaviest rainfall rates are expected between 4 pm and 7 am. These rainfall rates could approach the one-hour guidance for some of the burn scars, and the Flash Flood Watch continues for those burn scars. This is also the period of greatest risk for local flooding of roadways. Activity will become more showery behind the front by around daybreak. Local creeks, streams, and rivers will continue to rise after the rain moves out. Showers will become more widespread once again during the late morning into the afternoon as a vort max swings through with the trough axis. We do see some weak instability build in later this evening into tomorrow. The instability looks very marginal and that should limit thunderstorm chances, but a few embedded thunderstorms will be possible."
3:30 p.m.: The National Weather Service says a wind gust up to 44 miles per hour has been recorded at Mount Vaca, though this figure will almost certainly increase as the night goes on.
2:20 p.m.: This is the latest image of the bomb cyclone storm off the coast of Northern California, as distributed by NOAA and the National Weather Service on Wednesday...
1:30 p.m.: Governor Newsom's office has declared a state of emergency in preparation for response to flooding and structural damage across California. The declaration authorizes the California National Guard to deploy to areas hit the hardest by the storm, and facilitates better coordination between California and federal officials. Click or tap here to read more...
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