A large ficus tree came down during Tuesday's storm near the intersection of Potrero Avenue and Alameda Street, near the 101 freeway overpass.

San Francisco's Public Works Department documented the fallen tree just after 9:30 am Tuesday, advising the public to avoid that area of Potrero Avenue, near where it terminates at Division Street.

The tree's trunk and roots appears to have failed and the whole, mature tree fell, taking part of the sidewalk up with it.

Ficus trees like this one are common street trees in San Francisco, and while many residents love them, the oldest ones with the largest canopies are also the most unstable and prone to failure like this, causing potential hazards to pedestrians and cars.

The Public Works Department has a whole web page on the topic, given that the removal of these trees — as was done in a larger effort on 24th Street in the Mission in recent years — tends to be controversial. A systematic effort took place to remove groups of mature ficus trees in Hayes Valley in 2019 as well.

"Multiple, competing branches are the most common reason [for ficus trees to fail]," the department says. "These multiple branches will split apart from each other causing limbs to suddenly fall off the tree."

Public Works has not allowed the planting of ficuses as street trees since the 1990s, they say, because of "the amount of sidewalk damage and other infrastructure damage that is caused by the roots of the species and the species' history of large limb failures."

In snowy Tahoe, I-80 was temporarily closed in both directions Monday morning due to multiple spinouts, and rainy conditions around the Bay are leading to ponding and road closures as well.

I-80 was back open as of 1:30 pm Monday after being shut down for several hours in both directions in the Sierra. As snow continues to fall in the mountains, chain controls and lowered speed limits are in effect. Chains are required in the eastbound and westbound lanes from the Nevada state line to 2.1 miles east of Baxter in Placer County.

As KCRA reports, chains are also required on Highway 50 from Twin Bridges to Meyers.

Snow in the Sierra is expected to intensify Monday evening.

Monday afternoon, Caltrans also announced partial closures of some major roads in Sonoma County, including a section of Highway 12 from Watmaugh Road to the intersection with state Highway 121, due to minor flooding. Highway 121 was also closed from Fremont Drive to its intersection with Highway 12, and Caltrans expects the roads to remain closed until 5 am Wednesday.

We have not yet had any reports of significant flooding in San Francisco itself.

A coastal flood advisory is in effect until 3 pm Tuesday.

San Francisco will see intermittent downpours and light rain into the evening hours, with a break in the rain that will last until around 4 am. At that point, the rain picks up again just in time for post-holiday-weekend commutes.

Top image: Photo via CHP-Truckee

Over 5,000 lightning strikes were detected throughout California Wednesday, with 985 located in the Bay Area and Central Coast. Plus, two storms are forecasted this coming week, with an inch of rain expected in the North Bay and half an inch in SF.

As SFGate reports, a storm system originating in the subtropics is due to arrive in the Bay Area early Monday, while a second storm is expected to hit early Wednesday. National Weather Service (NWS)  meteorologist Nicole Sarment told SFGate that both storms are coming from the Gulf of Alaska and will be centered over the North Bay, which is expected to receive an inch of rain by the end of the week. San Francisco will likely get half an inch of rain, and the East Bay a quarter inch. The outlet reports that the rain is expected to dissipate by late Thursday with warmer weather arriving on Friday, just in time for the weekend.

Per SFGate, there’s only a 15% chance of lightning during the two incoming storms, unlike last Wednesday and Thursday when California skies were lit up by over 5,000 lightning events, as Bay Area News Group reports. There were 88 “cloud-to-ground” lightning strikes detected in the East Bay and South Bay between 7 pm Wednesday and 7 am Thursday, according to US Forest Service spokesperson Adrienne Freeman, as KRON4 reports.

NWS meteorologist Roger Gass told the Bay Area News Group that between late Tuesday night and early Thursday morning, 985 lightning strikes were spotted in the Bay Area and Central Coast region. Wildfires were a concern along the Central Coast, which was most impacted by the strikes — firefighters were monitoring 173 locations in San Mateo and Santa Cruz counties, per KRON4.

As the Bay Area readies for the incoming rain on Monday, NWS’s Sarment warns residents to be careful on the roads, explaining via SFGate that steady rain can bring oils to the surface, causing roadways to become very slick. “Make sure you’re driving slower with lights on,” she advised.

Image: Reddit

Early arrivals to the Burning Man festival were met with 50-mph winds and a “wall of blowing dust” Saturday as the storm tore through campsites, destroying art and causing four minor injuries. A potential monsoon and flash floods are on this week’s forecast.

As the Chronicle reports, winds created by thunderstorms in the Sierra Nevada began stirring up dust from Great Basin’s lakebed a little after 5 pm Saturday. The National Weather Service’s Reno office issued an advisory, informing the public that wind gusts were steadily moving northward at 30 mph before picking up speed.

As SFGate reports, an hour later, participants were urged to stay away from the playa until the storm passed, as the Black Rock City Airport weather station clocked wind speeds at 52 mph.

“We were expecting 35 mph winds according to the radar we were watching so we made sure everything was secure around our camp,” attendee Angie Peacock told the Chronicle via text. “Very quickly things turned for the worst, It became complete white out conditions. We couldn’t see about 15 feet in front of us.”

“We saw structures being ripped and torn down by the wind speeds even though we buttoned everything down as best as we could,” Peacock continued. “Most of us took shelter, …got into our shipping containers, and then everyone else in RVs … until it blew over then we all came out, went and walked.”

“I want to stress that when things like this happen we don’t get upset or worried,” Peacock told the Chronicle. “We know that our camp will rebuild and that it actually brings us closer together.”

As the Chronicle reports, an attendee wrote on Reddit, “Every popup canopy I’ve seen has been destroyed.”

“Can’t see past my hands; all campers sheltering in place. This is a real one!” another Redditor responded.

“It was all fun and games then we got hit by a flying yurt,” said another.

Black Cloud, a 100-foot long by 50-foot high installation from Ukraine, was destroyed during the storm. The piece, described by the Chronicle as an “8-ton inflatable thundercloud,” consisted of 4,300 yards of fabric accompanied by the sounds of artillery fire, explosions, drones, and military vehicles, as the Reno Gazette Journal reports.

“It was supposed to be a success no less than our work last year, ‘I’m Fine,’” Deynega posted on Facebook in Ukrainian – per the Reno Gazette Journal, using Google Translate. “But then came the apocalypse. ... I was awakened sometime after 5:30 p.m., still not fully awake, I realized that something very bad was happening. There are sharp changes in weather here.”

The Reno Gazette Journal writes that the gates to Black Rock City officially opened Sunday morning, and the wait for entry was seven hours and 20 minutes long as of 11:15 am.

The outlet reports that the gates closed again around 6 pm and were still closed as of 10:15 pm Sunday. Additionally, event organizers said Black Rock City Airport was closed Sunday night and vehicles were prohibited from driving on the playa, per the Reno Gazette Journal.

The Chronicle writes that the National Weather Service issued a warning that potential monsoon thunderstorms and flash flooding may be hitting the playa Sunday through Wednesday as slow-moving storms could release an inch or more of rain in a brief period of time.

“It’s becoming increasingly likely that we could see an even greater flash flood threat,” the weather service wrote online. “If you’re on the playa at the Black Rock Desert, you may very well be in for a muddy mess Monday through Wednesday.”

The Chronicle notes that this brings to mind the 2023 Burning Man in which tens of thousands of attendees were left stranded due to wet and muddy conditions, as reported by SFist.

SFGate is directing readers to Burning Man’s “2023 Wet Playa Survival Guide.”

Image: Burning Man/Facebook

Previously: A Sneak Peek at the Burning Man 2025 Art Projects (Which Are Not Even at Burning Man Yet)

Related:Burning Man Doused by Rare Desert Rains, Turning Festival Into Muddy Nightmare for 70,000+ Festival-Goers Trapped in Playa

The U.S. Coast Guard suspended its search Sunday for two people still missing after a 27-foot powerboat capsized during a sudden storm on Lake Tahoe Saturday around 3 p.m. The incident resulted in seven confirmed deaths and two hospitalizations, with a total of ten people onboard.

Update: As of Sunday night, local authorities confirmed that a seventh body had been recovered from the lake, with one person still missing.

According to the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office, the boat was caught in extreme weather conditions on Saturday, including wind gusts over 35 mph and waves reaching 8 to 10 feet, as reported by the Chronicle and earlier today on SFist. These hazardous conditions arose rapidly, catching many boaters off guard during what had been a calm day.

Two survivors were hospitalized with hypothermia and other injuries. Authorities have not yet released the identities of the deceased or confirmed whether any passengers were wearing life jackets. As KRON4 reports, the lake's surface temperature was just over 58 degrees Fahrenheit at the time of the storm, with an air temperature of 38 degrees and a near-freezing wind chill, according to National Weather Service data.

As South Tahoe News reports, the Coast Guard said it covered more than 390 square miles over 12 hours before halting the search Sunday at 10:55 a.m. “Suspending a search is always a difficult decision to make and weighs heavily on each Coast Guard member involved,” Cmdr. David Herndon stated. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and loved ones.”

The capsized boat was identified as a Chris-Craft Launch 27, a high-performance vessel known for its sleek design and stability. The area where it sank — near Rooster Rock — is known for deep underwater drop-offs, exceeding 300 feet in some places.

Witnesses reported the weather shift as abrupt and extreme. “My wife was needlepointing, I looked up and it was game on,” said Brian Swenor, a longtime boater. Others described swells as high as 10 feet damaging or sinking numerous boats across the lake.

Chris Williams, a captain for Tahoe Sports, said his fleet endured “severe wave heights that have never been seen on Lake Tahoe.” He reported that two of the company’s boats broke free from their pier and were washed ashore, though no passengers were injured.

Estimates of storm-related damage vary. Some locals claimed up to 100 boats may have sunk, while others put the number closer to 10, with dozens more damaged. At Camp Richardson Marina alone, officials reported two sunken boats and seven or eight others that broke loose and ended up onshore. Most were rentals and sustained significant damage, said Angel Tapia of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, who also noted efforts underway to contain petroleum spills and prevent further environmental harm.

Tapia’s team has been removing fuel from compromised vessels to reduce ecological impact. On Sunday, the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office issued a warning to residents near Camp Richardson about possible contamination in their water systems due to hazardous materials from the marina.

The storm came without much warning, though some experienced locals chose to stay off the water after seeing early forecasts. “If you have 10 knots before noon, you don’t go out,” said Mary Laub, a Minden resident.

The National Park Service stresses that even during summer, Lake Tahoe’s cold water can pose serious risks. Without a life jacket, a person may lose motor function in under 10 minutes.

Search efforts on Sunday included sonar-equipped boats and dive teams, but no further recoveries were announced. The Coast Guard and local officials continue to investigate the cause of the capsizing.

Image: U.S. Coast Guard

There’s only one lane open on State Route 84 a.k.a. Niles Canyon Road west of Sunol, because part of the other lane has simply broken off and fallen into Alameda Creek.

We noted this morning that the latest batch of winter storms knocked down trees across the Bay Area, and could even cause tornadoes in the Central Valley. The latest round of storm-induced travel trouble is near the Alameda County township of Sunol, where only one lane of the two-lane is open on State Route 84 (Niles Canyon Road for that stretch). That's because the other lane has cracked open and fallen onto Alameda Creek according to NBC Bay Area.

Caltrans is referring to this as a “slipout,” and they say it happened sometime around 5 am Monday morning. KGO reports that Caltrans is doing one-way traffic controls between Pleasanton Road and Washington Boulevard to keep traffic moving in both directions, for now. But the agency also says that both lanes will be closed as of 5 pm Monday, with no estimated time at which the highway would reopen.

"When the roadway gets eroded, the ground underneath of it kind of washes out, then the pavement slips down right, or becomes unnavigable,” Caltrans spokesperson Bart Ney told KGO. “So we can't have people driving on it, so that's what's going on out there right now. and we're going to need to make a repair before we can open it all the way back up."

The KGO segment above has some pretty stunning aerial footage of the cracked highway falling into the creek. And it sounds like it may be a while until this stretch of highway if fully open again.

"It's safe to traverse in one direction,” Ney added. “But what we'll have to do as soon as we get them out there, is to have construction engineers take a look at what needs to be done in order to repair the road then when we know what that is, then we can go ahead and take the steps to get the materials and the crews in to rebuild it."

There is a recommended detour along Palomares Road in the adjacent Castro Valley.

Related: Marin County Roads Get Warped And Buckled After This Week’s Storms [SFist]

Image: @CaltransD4 via Twitter

• Santa Cruz has also had its own evacuation orders lifted by 3:20 p.m., but boy is there some flooding aftermath for them to deal with. The Santa Cruz Wharf remains closed, as are roads along Rio Del Mar Esplanade. [KSBW]

• Some five miles to the east of Santa Cruz, Capitola also finds itself inundated with floods. A wharf that was damaged in last January's floods is at risk of having all of its repairs reversed, and businesses are struggling to keep water from rolling though their doors. [NBC Bay Area]

• Are you tempted to go surfing in these conditions? Don’t! One Pacifica surfer learned that the hard way, needing the U.S. Coast Guard to get him back to Linda Mar Beach safely. [KGO]

• Heather Knight’s latest in the New York Times touts a “Montgomery Street revival” in San Francisco’s notoriously sluggish downtown recovery, noting Michael Shvo’s Transamerica Pyramid makeover and the Vacant to Vibrant pop-ups. [NY Times]

• Longtime San Francisco tourism chief, SF Travel President and CEO Joe D'Alessandro, is retiring after 18 years on the job. [KGO]

Image: @CityofSantaCruz via Twitter

Wednesday’s continued rainstorms caused traffic jams and commute messes across the Bay Area, while the Oakland Zoo closed up shop in heavy rains, and more than 200 flights have been delayed today at SFO.

As of Wednesday afternoon, the worst of the current Bay Area rainstorms is expected to be finished, with dry weather expected from Thursday through the long Christmas weekend. But San Francisco did receive an inch of rain in Wednesday morning’s deluge, and as seen below, a Coastal Flood Advisory remains in effect today.

Here in SF, the most lasting effect of Wednesday morning’s storms is that flooding at the Embarcadero has forced the SFMTA to replace the F-Market streetcars with buses, at least, between the Ferry Building and Fisherman’s Wharf, in both directions.

And the rains have forced the closure of the Oakland Zoo all day Wednesday. Refunds to ticket holders will be automatic, and they might still reopen for Glowfari Wednesday night. If you have tickets to Wednesday night’s Glowfari, keep an eye on the zoo’s social media channels for any announcements.

Sure, San Francisco International Airport had a nice little rainbow Tuesday. But Thursday and Friday are expected to be the two busiest travel days of the holidays at SFO, per KGO. The flight delay landscape remains a mass with well over 200 flights delayed Wednesday according to the website FlightAware.

The weather up in the Sierra Nevada is obviously even crazier, and the California Highway Patrol informs us there were boulder slides Tuesday night that spilled onto Highway 50, some five miles from South Lake Tahoe. Those lanes have since been reopened, but the Highway Patrol advises that “Caltrans will be out there blasting the larger boulders” on Wednesday.

Similar rockslides temporarily closed Highway 50 in April 2021 and March 2022.

At this point, the Bay Area has likely seen the worst of the weather we’re going to see this week (fingers crossed). But the National Weather Service warns that Thursday will bring a high risk of floods and mud in Southern California, something  to keep in mind if you may be traveling there for the holidays.  

Related: Hundreds of SFO Flights Delayed, Rain Floods Some SF Streets [SFist]

Image: SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - JANUARY 04: The Golden Gate Bridge is seen through a rain covered windshield on January 04, 2023 in San Francisco, California. A massive storm is hitting Northern California bringing flooding rains and damaging wind (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Over the course of 24 hours beginning Friday evening, hundreds, if not thousands, of lightning strikes lit up the skies in and around the Central Coast, alarming residents and authorities.

The strikes, which appeared both on land and at sea, ignited fears of potential wildfires amid the region's dry late-summer conditions, according to KTVU. The National Weather Service issued a fire weather watch effective from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Saturday, for areas situated above 2,500 feet in the Santa Lucia mountains, including the Los Padres National Forest, as well as the interior mountains of Monterey and San Benito counties.

While the fire weather watch was in effect, a red flag warning, signifying critical fire weather conditions, was also activated, as the Chronicle reported. However, this warning expired at noon on Saturday

The Santa Cruz Mountains were reportedly among the regions affected by the unexpected onslaught of showers and lightning strikes. Isolated strikes were also reported near San Jose.

The National Weather Service counted the total number of strikes exceeding 6,000, with both “cloud-to-cloud” and “ground strike” lightning, using one data source.

Meanwhile, another data source indicated a slightly lower figure, with over 700 strikes recorded.

On Saturday afternoon, the weather service said at least four small fires had been ignited in the region as a result of the lightning strikes, per KTVU.

Local authorities and firefighting agencies say they are closely monitoring the situation to respond to any new fire outbreaks in the wake of this unusual lightning event.

Feature image of a 2015 lightning storm in San Francisco via Flickr/Joe Parks under Creative Commons license.

Don’t bother leaving for Burning Man today if you have an early-arrival pass, because Black Rock City is largely underwater, and the flooding has forced the temporary closure of the event’s front gate until 12 noon Tuesday at the earliest.

A curious footnote on the path of what we’re now calling Tropical Storm Hilary, or technically at this point, Post-Tropical Cyclone Hilary. The storm has moved into Nevada, already causing trouble in Las Vegas, and it's headed directly to the Black Rock Desert where the annual Burning Man event is held. Heavy rains battered the desert this past weekend as those with early arrival passes are starting to roll in, and as SFGate reports, forced Burning Man to close its front gates.

In a 7:40 p.m. Sunday night announcement, the official Burning Man Traffic Twitter account posted, “Due to the rain forecast Sunday 8/20 into Monday 8/21, the gate will be closed until at least noon on Monday 8/21. If you were planning to travel to BRC with a Work Access Pass, delay your plans.”

And apparently things have only gotten worse since. Just before 10:30 Monday morning, the same account announced, “The gate will remain closed until at least noon PT on Tuesday 8/22. If you were planning to travel to BRC with a Work Access Pass, delay your plans.”

So if you have that early-arrival Work Access Pass, they definitely do not want you heading out right now! “Do not drive to Gerlach, you will be turned around,” the account says.

The event technically begins for most attendees this Sunday, August 27.

The Burning Man Project says in a statement to SFist that "The set up production for Burning Man and Black Rock City in the Black Rock Desert has experienced the tail end of Hurricane/Tropical Storm Hilary, with about 0.6" of rain on the playa overnight (Sunday 8/20 to the morning of Monday 8/21)."

"Gates to Burning Man officially open on Sunday, 8/27 at 12:01 am, and we are certain this will happen as scheduled," the statement adds.

Extending the gate’s closure until Tuesday was probably the right call. As the Reno Gazette Journal points out, the region remains on a flood watch currently expected to last until 5 a.m. Tuesday.

The Gazette Journal also spoke to people who are on the ground there. "Rain has slowed down but winds are kicking up," Black Rock City census manager Andi Morency told that paper early Monday morning. "Other than this weather, it has been beautiful, cool, and just a couple quick white outs since I arrived Friday."

This is obviously not the worst suffering being wrought by Hilary. In Southern California, thousands of people lost power and a few cities lost 911 access on Sunday. The same may be coming to Nevada. And yes, in the Black Rock Desert heat, these huge flood-caused lakes can disappear in about 12 hours. But stories like this are not going to make it any easier for all the people who are still frantically trying to unload their Burning Man tickets.

Note: This post has been updated with comment from the Burning Man Project.

Related: Tropical Storm Hilary Makes Landfall in Southern California Sunday, With Heavy Rains, Landslide Risk, and Evacuations [SFist]

Image: Patrick Reeves via Facebook

Emergency officials have issued dire warnings to residents of Southern California as Tropical Storm Hilary, previously a hurricane, bears down on the region. Hilary made landfall Sunday morning on the Baja California peninsula and is expected to continue its path north throughout the day, after Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency on Saturday. He said over 7,500 emergency workers are on the ground, actively working to safeguard communities in the storm's path.

Although downgraded to a tropical storm from a hurricane over the weekend, Hilary is expected to unleash heavy rainfall, powerful winds, and life-threatening flooding, according to the Chronicle. Already on Saturday, one person was reported dead from drowning Mexico on the peninsula’s eastern coast, as NBC reported.

Hilary is reportedly projected to target Southern California by the afternoon, according to the National Hurricane Center. In California, a flash flood warning has been issued for Los Angeles County, including Long Beach, Glendale, Santa Clarita, Lancaster, Palmdale, and Malibu, on Sunday until 7:45 p.m. P.T. Evacuation orders were issued for various neighborhoods in San Bernardino County, as ABC reported. The storm's path is predicted to trigger mudslides, landslides, and dangerous debris flow across the region, with the impact extending through Monday morning.

The southern coast is expected to experience record rainfall, according to the National Weather Service.

Residents are reportedly flocking to grocery stores, eager to stock up on essential supplies like food and water in anticipation of the storm. Meanwhile, airports across the region have encouraged travelers to verify their flight statuses with their respective airlines, as cancellations and delays are anticipated due to the severe weather conditions brought on by Tropical Storm Hilary, according to the Chronicle.

Luckily, forecasters say that the Bay Area doesn't expect an impact.

Feature image of Hilary over Southern California viewed Sunday via NOAA/GOES-18 Satellite.

The next atmospheric river is forecast to come through the Bay Area from Monday evening through Wednesday morning, bringing more wind, rain, and potential floods.

The National Weather Service is predicting wind gusts of up to 70 mph in some places around the Bay — which have the potential to snap tree branches and damage power lines.

Forecast peak wind gusts Monday night through Wednesday morning. 40 to 50 mph gusts for the Valleys, and 55 to 70 mph gusts expected for the immediate coastline and coastal hills above 1000 feet. Expect power outages. More details here: https://t.co/xlZP9V3TqM #cawx pic.twitter.com/3lPbUvpjsE

— NWS Bay Area 🌉 (@NWSBayArea) March 12, 2023

Already, rain on Sunday prompted the NWS to issue Flood Advisories for Santa Clara and San Mateo counties from until 8:30 p.m., warning of minor flooding in low-lying and poor drainage areas, as well as area creeks and streams, ABC7 reported.

#BayArea rainfall so far today. This has already lead to flooding across San Mateo and Alameda counties #cawx pic.twitter.com/Oew74Y62jY

— NWS Bay Area 🌉 (@NWSBayArea) March 12, 2023

The atmospheric river could bring 1 to 3 inches of rain to low-lying land, SFGATE reported, and 3 to 6 inches of rain to higher-elevation areas. The tallest parts of the Bay, like Mount Diablo and the Oakland and Berkeley foothills, might even see 8 inches of precipitation, Patrick Ayd, a meteorologist with NOAA, told SFGATE.

The weather system could also worsen flooding that’s already overwhelmed many parts of the Bay Area, including the levee failure in Monterey County that triggered the evacuation of the unincorporated community of Pajaro Saturday, KPIX reported.

In San Francisco, the city is still distributing sandbags for properties prone to flooding at the Public Works’ operations yard.

The upcoming atmospheric river should be relatively fast-moving, meteorologists say, so it shouldn’t dump as much rain as the past few storms.

Image via Unsplash/Edgar Chaparro.

The current gigantic snow dump, combined with January’s storms, could break 40-year-old snowpack records in parts of the state, as the forecast calls for more cold and precipitation through March and possibly into April.

How bad is the current Lake Tahoe-area snowstorm, which has brought traffic to a halt on I-80 and caused avalanche evacuations? For the answer to that question, look no further than the Sugar Bowl Resort marketing office, whose doors opened Wednesday morning to the sight below.

Those early January storms and floods feel like years ago, as we’ve seen so much extreme weather since, and it’s fair to say at this point that 2023 is shaping up to be a very weird weather year. Now the Chronicle reports that the parts of the Sierra snowpack could break 40-year-old records, as this week’s storm is expected to continue for days, with plenty more precipitation is expected through the month of March.

“Statewide, the snowpack is 181% of average for this time of year and 156% of average for April 1, when the California snowpack typically peaks,” the Chronicle reports. “In some parts of the Sierra, snowpack levels are even on pace to surpass totals for the 1982-1983 season — the winter of record in the modern era.”

But to unpack this snowpack talk, parts of the Sierra region are on pace to break records, others are not. As the Chron explains, the Southern Sierra is ahead of snowpack levels from that 1982-1983 record, the Central Sierra is a little behind that record pace, and the Northern Sierra is well behind the pace of that 1982-1983 winter record. But all of these areas are far ahead of their snowfall averages for this time of year.

“It’s very possible we’ll end up vying for one of the top two snow years on record in parts of the state,” UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain said in his latest weather video podcast Monday. “We’re going to end this year with a very large Sierra Nevada snowpack,”

As seen above, Palisades Tahoe estimates that they’ve gotten “over 12 FEET of snow” this week. Longer-term forecasts predict that rain is expected to continue through March (here in the Bay Area, it’s predicted that the rain will return Saturday), and possibly into April.  That is good for drought conditions, though, as UC Berkeley Central Sierra Snow Lab lead scientist and manager Andrew Schwartz tells the Chronicle, “This is the year, I think, that a lot of us were looking for.”

Related: Avalanche Buries Tahoe Apartment Building, Several Areas Evacuated Over Avalanche Risk [SFist]

Image: @sugarbowlresort via Twitter

Amidst Tuesday afternoon’s wind gusts of nearly 65 miles per hour, two metal panels came flying off the SFPUC building near Civic Center, while downed trees and ripped-off roofs kept public employees busy all day.

During Tuesday afternoon’s heavy-duty wind gusts that reached nearly 65 miles per hour and knocked out power for more than 100,000 Bay Area households, we noticed a curious tweet from Broke-Ass Stuart. “Just now part of a building at Polk and Golden Gate fell off and landed on these cars,” he posted.

We asked him to elaborate. “I walked by right after it happened,” Broke-Ass Stuart tells SFist. “The security guards or cops or whoever they were, were checking to make sure the people who were in the car didn’t get hurt. Luckily none of them did.”

We now have more detail on all this from a KTVU report, which describes that two metal panels came flying off the San Francisco Public Utilities building at 525 Golden Gate Avenue. The incident took place around 4 p.m. Tuesday, and KTVU confirms that indeed no one was injured, but people were inside those cars, and one “family was sitting inside their vehicle when one panel hit the back of their car.”

The SFPUC confirmed the panels were from their building, though it's not clear if they were part of the structure or part of Ned Kahn's 200-foot-high, wind-activated public art piece on the building's front.

"These were severe winds, and this was an unfortunate situation,” SFPUC spokesperson John Cote told KTVU. “We're looking into exactly what happened, and we are taking steps to ensure the building is safe for people going by and for those inside."

This was not the only wind bedlam across town Tuesday afternoon. Mission Local has the story of a downed tree at 24th and Potrero Streets that snarled traffic and gave folks a good scare (and yes, it was a ficus tree). “Overhead wires dislodged by the tree threatened a parked sedan and truck, but neither were damaged and no one was injured,” that site reports.

And over in the Excelsior,  a roof was literally ripped off a house on Russia Street. Again, there were fortunately no injuries. “We've had 88 wind related calls, that's in addition to our normal 911 calls," SF Fire Department spokesperson Capt. Jonathan Baxter told KTVU Tuesday.

Gusty winds are expected to return Wednesday afternoon, though it is not anticipated they will be as severe as Tuesday,

Related: Nearly 70,000 in Bay Area Without Power As Winds Top 60mph, Fallen Trees Blocking Bay Bridge [SFist]

Image: @BrokeAssStuart via Twitter

• Though on the brighter side, westbound traffic on the Bay Bridge has (mostly) reopened after a fallen tree blocked lanes Tuesday afternoon. Three lanes of westbound traffic were initially closed, but now four of the five lanes have reopened, and the CHP assesses that all lanes should be reopen by around 7 p.m. [@CHPSanFrancisco via Twitter]
• Richmond District Dungeness crab spot PPQ Dungeness Island has closed, but do not fret, as they’re just moving two blocks away. Their last day at 2232 Clement Street was on February 20, and while we don’t have a reopening date, they’ve staked out their new home at ​​5821 Geary Boulevard (at 22nd Avenue). [Eater SF]
• SFPD is asking the public’s help in finding a suspect who stabbed a 67-year-old woman in the Tenderloin in June, a suspect SFPD describes as a “Hispanic male in his 20’s or 30’s. He is approximately 5’06 with a heavy-set build and dark hair.” [Examiner]
• Former San Jose mayor Sam Liccardo has reportedly said he’s interested in running for either Rep. Zoe Lofgren or Rep. Anna Eshoo’s seat, though he hasn’t decided which. [San Jose Spotlight]
• Bruce Springsteeen and the E Street band added a second Chase Center date for their tour, this one on December 10. [Chronicle]

Image: @SantaRosaFire via Twitter