Gilroy
– One of the biggest October storms in recent years swept into
Gilroy early Tuesday, soaking city streets by mid-morning and
bringing gusts of wind nearing 50mph.
One power line was knocked down at Chestnut and Seventh streets
round 11am, but didn’t knock out power and caused no damage,
according to the fire department.
Gilroy – One of the biggest October storms in recent years swept into Gilroy early Tuesday, soaking city streets by mid-morning and bringing gusts of wind nearing 50mph.
One power line was knocked down at Chestnut and Seventh streets round 11am, but didn’t knock out power and caused no damage, according to the fire department.
“This could be classified as one of the biggest storms, both in terms of wind and rain,” said Wendy Stanton, a forecaster with the National Weather Service in Monterey.
Before noon on Tuesday, wind gusts of 54mph were detected in Hollister and gusts of 45mph were detected in Salinas by the National Weather Service. The service does not measure wind gusts in Gilroy.
Total rainfall for Gilroy between 4pm Monday and 4pm yesterday was .60 inches, according to the weather service.
Keith Sottilare, a Gilroy resident who used to live in Seattle, said he thought the rain was a welcome change from the warm, dry days of summer.
“Oh, I love the rain,” he said while visiting downtown Gilroy Tuesday afternoon. “It makes everything so green and lush, instead of brown like it always is around here. I wish it’d rain like this 24/7.”
No major flooding was reported on Gilroy streets, but puddles crossed streets and creeped up to the top of curbs along Church and other downtown streets. Students at Gilroy High School once again contended with flooding on campus, they said. Construction during the summer months was expected to alleviate the school’s problems with standing water, mud and puddles.
Two visitors from San Diego, in the Gilroy area to see family, didn’t seem so keen on the recent storm.
“We weren’t exactly expecting this when we made the drive,” one visitor said. “We had to buy two new umbrellas today just to keep up with it.”
In Hollister, a tree branch fell across power lines on Monterey Street between Hazel and Hawkins streets around 10:30 Tuesday morning, knocking live wires to the ground and causing Hollister firefighters and Public Works Department employees to shut down the portion of the street and turn the power off for a short time. Fire Chief Bill Garringer said multiple tree branches have been breaking all over town. The Hollister City Public Works Department got about 50 calls Tuesday to report fallen trees, according to the PWD’s Charlene Hannibal, and one tree fell on a house on Carousel Drive.
The National Weather Service said the powerful fall storm would likely remain in the area through most of today, with less wind, but with rain and the possibility of thunderstorms.
“It seems the only days we’re going to have a break are going to be Thursday and Friday,” Stanton said. “But there will be more unsettled weather through the weekend.”
As is often expected with the first major rain of the season, slick roads caused headaches for drivers commuting north into the Bay Area, where numerous accidents slowed traffic. Around this city, the California Highway Patrol reported several minor accidents, but no major incidents.
“It rains, people don’t slow down, and follow too close, and then they can’t stop in time,” Officer Brad Voyles said.
Nevertheless, the steady rainfall will benefit Santa Clara County’s drinking water supply.
“It’s a good start to the rainy season,” said Mike DiMarco, spokesman for the Santa Clara Valley Water District.
An urban stream advisory was issued and the district was keeping watch Tuesday, but Gilroy’s Uvas Creek, empty before the storm, was not at risk of overflow. Several small streams in San Jose were close, DiMarco said.
“We’re just hoping that by the end of the rain season – which is usually in April – that we’ll have those reservoirs full,” he said.
Reservoir levels in South County are watched closely because those replenish into groundwater basins that supply parts of the county with drinking water.
DiMarco could not immediately provide current reservoir levels, but said that at the start of the storm, they were at about 41 percent, which he qualified as typical for this time of year.
South County utility customers were spared power outages experienced in the Bay Area. PG&E reported no power outages in Gilroy as of Tuesday afternoon. One outage was reported in Morgan Hill.
But the storm shouldn’t cause any problems for local crops, according to Agricultural Commissioner Paul Matulich, who said that the only crops still left to be harvested were broccoli and lettuce.
“The rain doesn’t really affect them. All it means is that they will have to wait a few days before they can go back out into the fields and harvest them,” Matulich said.
Staff Writer Katie Niekerk contributed to this report.
Average Gilroy rainfal (in inches)
January 4.7
February 3.6
March 3.6
April 1.7
May 0.3
June 0.1
July 0.1
August 0.5
September 0.8
October 2.7
November 3.0
December 2.11
