Waves rose and slammed against beaches and coves. Patches of blue sky became increasingly smaller. And the threat of a pending Bay Area rain storm loomed.
All of it Friday was the result of the tail end to an atmospheric river that promised to soak the most northern parts of California and Oregon while leaving some leftovers for this region. The National Weather Service said all of the Bay Area except for areas of the South Bay, including San Jose, lightly will get at least some rain.
Whatever does fall will add to a month that already has bedeviled the Bay Area with its rain totals.
The region was “seeing the weak side of the surface low pressure” as the bigger system approached land early Friday, NWS meteorologist Rick Canepa said. “There’s some good water vapor higher up, so you might see a lot more in the higher elevations.”
Those who live near Mount Tamalpais and other areas of the North Bay where rain typically falls hard were advised to prepare for at least an inch.
Considerably less — perhaps up to a quarter-inch, Canepa said, — was likely in Alameda and Contra Costa counties. The weather service forecast any rainfall in the South Bay to be in the hundredths of inches.
The heavy October rain also has been accompanied by unsafe conditions at the region’s beaches, and those concerns were expected to continue through the weekend. The weather service said buoys and web cameras recorded “energetic waves” Friday. The agency advised people to stay away from rocky areas, jetties and piers.
A beach hazards statement by the weather service began at 3 a.m. Friday and was set to stay in effect until 3 a.m. Monday. Waves were expected to break at a maximum of 20 feet.
Dense fog also arrived in the interior valleys of the North Bay on Friday, with visibility early Friday dipping to a quarter-mile before burning off late Friday morning.
A second small wave of the atmospheric river also from the tail end of the system is anticipated to drop a bit more rain on Sunday night and possibly into Monday.
“it’s likely to be highly variable,” Canepa said. “In a way, these kind of events can be really tough to forecast. It’s the tail end of the this system, but that tail end could carry some decent precipitation.”
The entire system is expected to be through the region by Monday morning, and gradual clearing from the cloudy days is expected to take place into early next week. Temperatures are expected to climb toward their seasonal average.
Originally Published: October 24, 2025 at 7:03 AM PDT
