More widespread rain creeps towards the Bay Area with wet weather expected into weekend

SAN FRANCISCO -- While most of the region outside of the North Bay has seen very little rain this week, more widespread precipitation finally arrived Wednesday afternoon.

According to KPIX chief meteorologist Paul Heggen, the next wave of rain that moves in Wednesday should impact much more of the Bay Area. After a dry start to the day, the leading edge of the system system hit the coast to the south in Santa Cruz and Monterey shortly before 9 a.m. 

It would still take hours for any significant rain to move in from off the coast further north and spread inland Wednesday afternoon.

In addition to rain and initially light winds, mainly after 10 a.m., the National Weather Service forecast called for gusts moving through the region as high as 25 miles per hour.

The off-and-on showers will persist through Wednesday night and into Thursday. On Friday, another wave of widespread heavier rain will arrive and continue into Saturday morning. The stronger system is projected to provide a slight chance of thunderstorms. Forecasters expect moderate to locally heavy rainfall within any thunderstorms that may develop. 

Despite the precipitation, temperatures will remain a few degrees above-average with highs reaching the mid-to-upper 60s and low 70s. Overnight lows should be in the 40s throughout the region, with some areas around the bay dropping into the 50s.

Residents in the Bay Area can breathe a sigh of relief since no major flooding concerns are projected after the precipitation trended far lighter than some models indicated last week.

After the lingering showers on Saturday, the region will dry out for the second half of the weekend and most of Thanksgiving week.

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• Storm Watch