Storm Has Been Steady, but Not Causing Too Many Problems in Novato

Weather forecasters say the rain is expected to continue through the weekend in the North Bay, but so far Novato has not had any major damage.

The Bay Area is forecast for Saturday was for rainy and breezy weather with highs in the mid-50s, according to the National Weather Service. South winds of 20-30 mph were expected, becoming west winds of 15 to 20 mph in the afternoon. Saturday night and Sunday call for mostly cloudy skies with a 20-30 percent chance of rain with light winds.

As of 8:30 a.m. Saturday, the Marin County Department of Public Works’ gauge on Novato Creek, just behind the , showed .66 inches of precipitation in the past 12 hours. The figure was the same for the past 24 hours.

Fallen trees have been more of a problem than storm drain clearance or flooding during the latest round of storms, a city maintenance supervisor said.

“There was one in Ignacio that fell across the street and we had a good-sized crew down there to handle it,” said Joe Stene, supervisor for street and traffic maintenance. “We got assistance from the parks and islands division and we were able to get that tree cut up and chipped in 8-10 minutes.”

The pine tree was about 18 inches in diameter and came down Thursday on Ignacio Boulevard between Country Club Drive and Montura Way, and that’s the biggest one that has come down during the recent rains, Stene said. More than a dozen trees have been reported down, especially after the windiest times, he said.

Residents with large trees nears their homes should grab an umbrella and survey the bases of trees for signs of uprooting, experts say. Trees known to be diseased, located on slopes or with particularly large canopies — ones that get weighed down as they get more soggy — are more vulnerable.

Stene said crews have been monitoring creek levels and storm drains nonstop. Novato lucked out that some of the heaviest dumping of rain has come when there was an outgoing tide, he said.

“Our pipes have been running at about 90 percent capacity,” he said.