Storm Drenches Northern California

Rain fell in Northern California for the second straight day Sunday as new storms approached the Pacific Coast with the promise of more of the unfamiliar wet stuff.

Rain from the new system was expected to spread to the Tehachapis by Tuesday morning, bringing a slight chance of showers in the Los Angeles area.

The National Weather Service said rain was expected to be heavy at times in the north. Another front was expected in Northern California by the end of the week.

More than an inch of rain fell in portions of the northern Sierra Nevada by late Sunday.

A storm Saturday dropped several inches of much-needed rain on the North Coast and more than an inch on San Francisco and Sacramento. The storm reached as far south as Fresno.

“By Friday, the San Francisco Bay Area had only 25% of its normal rainfall for the wet season,” said Weather Service forecaster Paul Hamilton. “By Sunday, it had gone to 35%.”

Louie Figone, a flower grower in Half Moon Bay, said he did not expect the latest series of storms to help the drought much.

“But I’m not complaining,” said Figone, who said he had already been set back about five months because of freezing weather. “We’ll take whatever we can get.”

On Friday, Gov. Pete Wilson ordered water experts to come up with a plan to cope with the drought. He directed a new task force to report Feb. 15 on options, including an emergency declaration that would give him broad authority over water supplies.