NO LATER THAN March 29, 3:15 p.m Isolated storm cells swept across the San Francisco Bay Area on Wednesday, showering the region with hail and rain. They delivered fresh snow to the highest peaks, including Mount Diablo in the East Bay and Mount Hamilton in the South Bay.
The storms emerged over the region on Wednesday as an area of low pressure continued its journey south along the California coast and passed the Bay Area.
In downtown San Francisco, hail storms hit city streets just after 3 p.m., with many Twitter users commenting on the bizarre weather.
“I’ve never seen hail like this in San Francisco,” wrote one Twitter user. “It does not stop!” said another.
“Cow Hollow Hail!” wrote one Twitter user. “That was amazing and went on for a good 10 minutes, even with shouting from the side. I phoned someone downtown and was told it hardly ever rained there – never a dull moment.”
Never seen hail like this in San Francisco. pic.twitter.com/Ib8kBITcLt
— Edward Kierklo (@ekierklo) March 29, 2023
The chance of heavy downpours, small hail, gusty winds and thunderstorms will last through 10 p.m. Wednesday in the North Bay and midnight in the rest of the Bay Area, the National Weather Service said.
Pedestrians walk with umbrellas in downtown San Francisco during a rainstorm on Tuesday, March 28, 2023.
Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATE
March 29, 7:30 a.m Scattered storm cells dropped hail in parts of the San Francisco Bay Area Wednesday morning, and more unsettled weather is forecast later in the day.
An area of low pressure moving south along the California coast is expected to skirt the San Francisco Bay Area this afternoon, dropping more hail and rain and kicking up winds. There is also a very small chance of thunderstorms.
“You’re going to have some breezy moments and a lot of wind changes,” Brayden Murdock, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, told SFGATE. “This low drives clockwise winds around it. You will see many south winds and then south east winds. As it passes us, the winds shift north.”
The center of the low pressure is not expected to sweep directly over the region like last Tuesday’s storm did, and winds are not expected to be nearly as strong as in the previous storm.
“We don’t expect a repeat of last week,” Murdock said. “Last week there were a lot of ingredients that went perfectly with what we saw. This low is coming at us from a different direction.”
It’s hailing and thundering again in the Berkeley Hills ⛈️@BerkeleyScanner @berkeleyside @DrewTumaABC7 @NWSBayArea pic.twitter.com/9a5DMv2BRf
— Laura Kwan-Rosenbush (@laurakr415) March 29, 2023
The passing of the low will also bring some showers to the region. These isolated cells could dump moderate to heavy rain but are likely to move quickly.
“Around 1 p.m. we could see showers coming through,” Murdock said. “Between then and now we could see a few pop-up showers.”
Tuesday’s weather models pointed to a thunderstorm chance of up to 30% in the Bay Area on Wednesday, but the chance has since dropped to less than 10%.
“There’s a chance we’ll see some thunderstorms today, but it doesn’t look like it’s going to be a really big chance in terms of strong impact,” Murdock said. “It doesn’t promote the best environment for thunderstorms. We just don’t get all the ingredients. There’s energy there, but it looks like it’s really pulling away.”
Conditions are expected to be dry on Thursday and Friday, with a weak system on Saturday potentially bringing light rain to the North Bay.
This breaking news has been updated.
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