Feb 17, 2011
After a prolonged warm and dry spell a strong low pressure trough made its way out of the Gulf of Alaska and into California. This trough began the series of cool weather systems that produced six consecutive days of precipitation in the San Francisco Bay Area and the central California coast. Damaging wind, locally flooding rain, intense hail and even moderate snowfall above 1500 feet were experienced during the first wave of this series.
Source: NOAA National Weather Service Storm Events Database (event 286499). Narrative written by NWS staff at the time of the event.
This event is one of many recorded floods in Sonoma County. See the full FEMA flood zone map, NFIP claim totals, and disaster history for the area.