By Amanda Bartlett, SFGate, San Francisco The Tribune Content Agency
You'll probably want to fish that umbrella out of the back of your coat closet - another round of rainfall is headed for the San Francisco Bay Area, and it's got company.
A cold front approaching the region from the Pacific Northwest is expected to bring pre-frontal showers to the North Bay on Sunday night, delivering about a tenth to two tenths of an inch of rain to higher elevations before the main band of precipitation spreads throughout the rest of the Bay Area around noon on Monday. All told, most parts of the region could see two tenths to one third of an inch of rain, with "wetter spots" like Mount Tamalpais, the Marin Headlands, and the coastal mountain ranges of Sonoma County seeing as much as half to three quarters of an inch of rain, said Dial Hoang, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service's Bay Area office.
"This is generally beneficial rain, but I think slick roadways will be the main issue," Hoang said. "If you do need to travel, you will want to leave extra space on the road between your car and the vehicle in front of you."
Meteorologists are not expecting urban flooding or any major landslides, he added, but some gusty winds may arrive in the wake of the front, reaching speeds of up to 30 mph on mountain peaks and areas like Altamont Pass. Scattered showers are expected to taper off on Monday evening before another shot of rain arrives by mid-week, likely lasting through the weekend, per the weather service's area forecast discussion.
"As with previous forecast updates, these rain chances look strong, but rainfall rates and amounts don't look to be very impactful," the weather service said. "Overall rain totals stay below an inch for the rainiest spots over the Wed-Saturday period and much lower amounts are expected in the areas farther south."
That said, it's significant compared with the storm system that swept through the Bay Area over Halloween weekend, when downtown San Francisco saw about a tenth of an inch of rain. Meteorologists anticipate the upcoming system will bring up to a third of an inch of rain to the city's streets, Hoang said.
"Just make sure any loose outdoor objects are put inside and be aware of impacts like tree branches falling on power lines," he said. "Outages aren't likely but they're possible."
Several more chances of rain are on the forecast through mid-November.
Check with the weather service for the latest forecast updates.