Heavy Rain, High Winds on the Way in Marin

A series of strong storm systems will batter Marin County and beyond with heavy rain and high winds this weekend, the National Weather Service said Wednesday.

"It's going to be wet and windy, that's for sure," said Steve Anderson, a forecaster with the National Weather Service in the Bay Area. "Make sure those flash lights have batteries, because power will more than likely be out in parts of the area."

Anderson said rain will arrive on Friday but get heavy on Saturday and last into early next week. Our area could get as much as six inches of rain over the next several days, while higher elevations could get as much as 10 inches over the next week. Winds are expected to gust between 30 and 40 miles per hour, Anderson said. Point Reyes National Seashore officials warned that winds could gust as high as 60 mph.

Anderson urged Marin residents to make sure their gutters are cleared from earlier storms.

"Some of the previous storms knocked a lot of leaves down," he said.

Point Reyes officials also warned that the combination of heavy rainfall and strong winds may cause falling of trees along roads and trails within the national seashore, and temporary closures could result.

Mill Valley Public Works Director Wayne Bush said the city is prepared for the storms, employing a series of seasonal strategies in advance of their arrival. He said that drain inlets are cleaned and checked regularly, and trees, limbs and debris that would obstruct the flow of local creeks have been removed.

City staff will be on call for after-hours events this weekend, Bush said, and the police and fire departments are able to contact the on-call person or crew in the event of an incident. Sand has been placed at three locations – behind Boyle Park on Thalia St., behind Old Mill Park on Molino Ave. and by the restrooms at Hauke Park. The department has placed 5,000 sandbags in its storage, and some were distributed to the two fire stations for residents' use.

The expected storm comes amidst a relatively dry winter to date, with the National Weather Service projecting that rain totals in Marin will fall below average this season.