lowenthal refers to this rain as beneficial rainfall after what's been a dry fall. so for us, that's great news significantly reduces the fire risk and potentially could actually result in the ending of our local fire season within the city of santa rosa grass brush and other vegetation, access fuels and firefighters able to calculate the risk of wildfires based on how quickly those fuels are able to be cured. it can be anywhere from hours to 1000. our fuels for us. right now, the beneficial rainfall that we have is really minimizing the risk for those light flashy fuels. but we need the rains to continue. we need the back-to-back beneficial storms. >> to help with our heavier fuels, the risk of wildfires is year round, but the chances of a spark lessened during the winter months. it's why bay area counties continue to educate the public on prevention from defensible spaces to the appropriate time of using a lawnmower. it's really unfortunate what happened here locally with in sonoma county with just the number of devastating wildfires we've had since 2017. but from

lowenthal refers to this rain as beneficial rainfall after what's been a dry fall. so for us, that's great news significantly reduces the fire risk and potentially could actually result in the ending of our local fire season within the city of santa rosa grass brush and other vegetation, access fuels and firefighters able to calculate the risk of wildfires based on how quickly those fuels are able to be cured. it can be anywhere from hours to 1000. our fuels for us. right now, the beneficial rainfall that we have is really minimizing the risk for those light flashy fuels. but we need the rains to continue. we need the back-to-back beneficial storms to help with our heavier fuels. the risk of wildfires is year round, but the chances of a spark lessened during the winter months. lowenthal says there's been an increase of devastating fires in sonoma county since 2017, which is why public knowledge of prevention is so important have unfortunately seen a lot of the fires that we do have continue to be human caused. so for us education outreach awareness is critical, espe

paul lowenthal is santa rosa's fire. marshal is literally just to are asking residents to clean the leaf litter out of their gutters and anticipating a red flag conditions to minimize risk member cast now are asking residents to clear those same roof gutters. making sure that private onsite storm drains are cleared free debris so that water can go where it needs to go. >> lowenthal says that one of the chief concerns drivers getting caught in flooded roadways. >> what are things you hear? time and time again is turn around, don't drown. oftentimes we see people failing to heed to the warnings driving around barricades and getting themselves situations that they could absolutely avoid having been in flooded roadways. what that does prompts an unnecessary response where you're taking away public safety officials, police fire, ems to respond to an incident that could have absolutely been avoided. had somebody just turned around. >> he says if you do see standing water turned brown, play it safe, although very cold temperatu

i saw my neighbor's black car. >> reporter: lowenthal said they were briefed by the national weather expects the rain to subside a little but asks people to be vigilant of standing water and downed power lines. >>> a mudslide closed a stretch of the silverado trail between oak knoll avenue and yountville crossroad. traffic is diverted in that area. >>> the sierra is expecting several more feet of snow by the end of the weekend. we'll take you to the mountains for a look at those conditions. >> the winds again are buffeting you back and forth. at one point i could barely go 60. i had to really slow down. >> it was bad. it's really hard to see. >>> within the last few hours the 49ers revealing whether or not star quarterback brock purdy will be on the field when the team takes - man, i need some serious help with this health insurance stuff. - check out covered california. it's a free service from the state that helps you get health insurance. millions of people have used it. - wait, for real? - mmm hmm, they even offer financial help to lower the cost. - nooo... how you know about all

paul lowenthal is santa rosa's fire. marshal is literally just to are asking residents to clean the leaf litter out of gutters and anticipating a red flag conditions to minimize risk member cast now are asking residents to clear those same roof gutters. making sure that prate onte storm drains are cleared free debris so that water can go where it needs to go. >> lowenthal says that one of the chief concerns drivers getting caught in flooded roadways. >> what are things you hear? time and time again is turn around, don't drown. oftentimes we see people failing to heed to the warnings driving around barricades and getting themselves situations that they could absolutnly avoid having been in flooded roadways. what that does prompts an unnecessary response where you're taking away public safety officials, police fire, ems to respond to an incident that could have absolutely been avoided. had somebody just turned around. >> he says if you do see standing water turned brown, play it safe, although very cold temperatures are pr

paul lowenthal with the santa rosa fire department said the driver couldn't see the dip after the heavy flooding and backed right into the ditch. the driver had to wait hours before law enforcement could pull the car out. >> that really highlights why we've been trying to encourage residents, drivers, to avoid unnecessary travel. >> reporter: the rain and flooding has been fluctuating the last couple days, but tonight his team expects a break from the heavy rain. santa rosa has seen more than ten inches of rain so far and flooding isn't the only problem. in healdsburg a mudslide blocked off the road at buena vista drive keeping residents from leaving this neighborhood. one woman who lives near the slide couldn't get past the mud on her way to work. >> i got my boots on, walked a little farther. i saw the slide. i saw my neighbor's black car and realized how bad it was. >> reporter: lowenthal says his team was briefed by the national weather service and expects the rain to sub decide a subside a little. luckily, we've got light rain now. so it doesn't look like this water will rise up to

paul lowenthal is santa rosa's fire. marshal is literally just to are asking residents to clean the leaf litter out of their gutters and anticipating a red flag conditions to minimize risk member cast now are asking residents to clear those same roof gutters. making sure that private onsite storm drains are cleared free debris so that water can go where it needs to go. >> lowenthal says that one of the chief concerns drivers getting caught in flooded roadways. >> what are things you hear? time and time again is turn around, don't drown. oftentimes we see people failing to heed to the warnings driving around barricades and getting themselves situations that they could absolutely avoid having been in flooded roadways. what that does prompts an unnecessary response where you're taking away public safety officials, police fire, ems to respond to an incident that could have absolutely been avoided. had somebody just turned around. >> he says if you do see standing water turned brown, play it safe, although very cold temperatu

paul lowenthal is santa rosa's fire. marshal is literally just to are asking residents to clean the leaf litter out their gutters and anticipating a red flag conditions to minimize risk member cast now are asking residents to clear those same roof gutters. making sure that private onsite storm drains are cleared free debris so that water can go where it needs to go. >> lowenthal says that one of the chief concerns drivers getting caught in flooded roadways. >> what are things you hear? time and time again is turn around, don't drown. oftentimes we see people failing to heed to the warnings driving around barricades and getting themselves situations that they could absolutely avoid having been in flooded roadways. what that does prompts an unnecessary response where you're taking away public safety officials, police fire, ems to respond to an incident that could have absolutely been avoided. had somebody just turned around. >> he says if you do see standing water turned brown, play it safe, although very cold temperatures

. >> reporter: paul lowenthal with the santa rosa fire department said they're working closely with public works to clear debris from creeks and streams and storm drains to keep water moving. otherwise you can get minor flooding like this on west college avenue. over on industrial avenue, more than a dozen drivers simply ignored the road closed signs in the first few minutes we there were and drove through the flooded street, something lowenthal said is the biggest risk to the community during these types of storms. >> we see time and time again people not heeding those warnings and trying to attempt to drive through and end up getting either stranded or worse case scenario, find themselves need to physically be rescued because they're in moving water. that draws a significant response to an incident that was 100% avoidable. >> reporter: across town at car tunes in santa rosa it was a different kind of emergency as a car came crashing through their store window yesterday afternoon just before it started raining. >> my heart was pounding. i was shaking. >> reporter: nicole meza was working

paul lowenthal is santa rosa's fire. marshal is literally just to are asking residents to clean the leaf litter out of their gutters and anticipating a red flag conditions to minimize risk member cast now are asking residents to clear those same roof gutters. making sure that private onsite storm drains are cleared free debris so that water can go where it needs to go. >> lowenthal says that one of the chief concerns drivers getting caught in flooded roadways. >> what are things you hear? time and time again is turn around, don't drown. oftentimes we see people failing to heed to the warnings driving around barricades and getting themselves situations that they could absolutely avoid having been in flooded roadways. what that does prompts an unnecessary response where you're taking away public safety officials, police fire, ems to respond to an incident that could have absolutely been avoided. had somebody just turned around. >> he says if you do see standing water turned brown, play it safe, although very cold temperatu

santa rosa fire marshal paul lowenthal explains how homeowners can help clear your street. your your gutters. your onsite. private storm drains so that debris doesn't back up on your property and cause property damage or get into the city or county system and causes he's downstream. many homes in the area can be seen. the sandbags blocking their driveways roadways and vineyards off of river road inundated with water. but the storm didn't seem to stop people from driving cream says he hopes people take extra caution. people pulling in flood waters and it's just it's not worth. it may look like it's something easy to get through, but you don't know but how deep it is. you don't know what obstacles are in the way and and avoidable incident like that prompts a response from fire, ems law enforcement. >> those resources are needed for critical calls. >> a flood warning is in effect for santa rosa right now. it goes until tomorrow afternoon at 4 o'clock. so that just means that there's even more of a threat for flooding in this area. make sure your extra careful out there. guys,

a short time ago, i spoke with paul lowenthal. he has a fire marshal with santa rosa. listen in. >> they and it is tonight and tomorrow morning are supposed to be the strongest winds were anticipating gusts. 35 to 40 miles an hour potentially here in santa rosa. we're already seeing gusts into the mid 20's early this morning. u.s. will start to saturate. there's actually the potential for trees to come down and debris. general, one of the things we're trying to get a lot of residents to do is prepare their properties, not just for rain, but also for we have seen in previous storms loose debris or even ups have the potential to get blown into power lines and cause outages. so anything they can do to secure those loose objects on your property. >> okay. back here is seeing a live picture and you can see some of the cars that are coming into the very flooded roadway. and you can save yourself that it is kind dicey out here. again, we have been watching cars. >> go through the flooded waters. a fire officials are saying, please don't do that. and just puts a lot of people

paul lowenthal is santa rosa's fire.al is literally just to are asking residents to clean the leaf litter out of their gutters and anticipating a red flag conditions to minimize risk member cast now are asking residents to clear those same roof gutters. making sure that private onsite storm drains are cleared free debris so that water can go where it needs to go. >> lowenthal says that one of the chief concerns drivers getting caught in flooded roadways. >> what are things you hear? time and time again is turn around, don't drown. oftentimes we see people failing to heed to the warnings driving around barricades and getting themselves situations that they could absolutely avoid having been in flooded roadways. what that does prompts an unnecessary response where you're taking away public safety officials, police fire, ems to respond to an incident that could have absolutely been avoided. had somebody just turned around. >> he says if you do see standing water turned brown, play it safe, although very cold temperatures ar

paul lowenthal with the santa rosa fire department explained why flooding has been the result. typically when you have the big storms this early in the season, the soils, you know, still a drier, able to handle a lot of the runoff. >> but this just the volume of rain that we got here again over 6 inches with another potentially. 46, again. >> on top of that over the next couple days, that's that's a lot of rain in a relatively short period of time. there were multiple reports of cars stalling out in flooded roadways and santa rosa thursday, first responders were able to keep up with the increased volume of calls, but with more rain on the way, they're asking drivers to avoid unnecessary risks. please learn from this. >> and you can see the lines if you got flowing water over the roadway. >> turn around. don't drown. >> it's obviously sundown now. so i see a lot ahead. lights that are on. hickox is important that during the day when it's raining, if your windshield wipers are on, turn your headlights on as well. she also says to slow down when there's limited visibility and give

paul lowenthal with the santa rosa fire department says the soils are typically dry enough this time of year to handle runoff. but that's not what's happening with this storm. but this just the volume of rain that we got here again over 6 inches with another potentially. 46, again. >> on top of that over the next couple days, that's that's a lot of rain in a relatively short period of time. there were multiple reports of cars stalling out in flooded roadways and santa rosa thursday, first responders were able to keep up with the increased volume of calls, but with more rain on the way, they're asking drivers to avoid unnecessary risks. please learn from this. >> and you can see the lines if you got flowing water over the roadway, turn around, don't drown. >> hancock says that it's important to remember if you have your windshield wipers on, you need to have your headlights on as well. and when there's heavy rain like this with limited visibility when driving, she says you should slow down and be plenty of space between you and the cars in front of you're putting live in santa rosa. i

lowenthal refers to this rain as beneficial rainfall after what's been a dry fall.s significantly reduces the fire risk and potentially could actually result in the ending of our local fire season within the city of santa rosa grass brush and other vegetation, access fuels and firefighters able to calculate the risk of wildfires based on how quickly those fuels are able to be cured. it can be anywhere from hours to 1000. our fuels for us. right now, the beneficial rainfall that we have is really minimizing the risk for those light flashy fields. but we need the rains to continue. we need the back-to-back beneficial storms. >>to help with our heavier fuels, the risk of wildfires the chances of a spark lessened during the winter months. it's why bay area counties continue to educate the public on prevention from defensible spaces to the appropriate time of using a lawnmower. it's really unfortunate what happened here locally with in sonoma county with just the number of devastating wildfires we've had since 2017. but from all those events came a lot of people truly do

>>lowenthal says that one of the chief concerns drivers getting caught in flooded roadways.hat are things you hear? time and time again is turn around, don't drown. oftentimes we see people failing to heed to the warnings driving around barricades and getting themselves situations that they could absolutely avoid having been in flooded roadways. what that does prompts unnecessary response pupupupupublic safety officials police fire, ems to respond to an incident that could have absolutely been avoided. had somebody just turned around. >>he says if you do see standing water, turn around, play it safe, although very cold temperatures are predicted well. >>owenthal says it doesn't rise to the level of opening shelters. >>just yet, although a freeze warning is in effect right now. looking at temperatures dropping into the mid 30's. so this point it does not meet the threshold for a warming center, at least here locally, but that's not to say that people should take precautions. just to m m m m mi some of those attacks in the north bay. theresa is co kron 4 news. >>you're watg ♪

look, lowenthal says while the bay-area did receive a good amount of rainfall, it really wasn't enoughend this fire season. >> definitely not out of the woods yet, but hopefully a lot of the work that residents have done to be in compliance to maintain defensible space. improve the vegetation management. need continues to pay off until we do get that scene. it season ending rain. >> now when red flag warnings are issued, santa rosa residents can always track these conditions like wind and speed and also that humidity all online at of course, we've got those details at kron 4 dot com. it'll take you right to those links and also we'll go ahead and forward and talk about the hottest year on record globally. it was 2024. >> and as we take a look at the details for the first time ever, the european climate agency says that the globe reached go back and i can get the percentage. i think it's 2.7. those are the degrees. 2.7 degrees fahrenheit of warming compared to the pre-industrial age. they say the numbers show we would not see a streak of record breaking temperatures without the constant

. >> fire marshal lowenthal does not expect swift water rescue teams to be called up. >> this storm is unusually big for the first. you know, the first rain of the year. >> the california highway patrol is expecting more than the usual count of crashes, spinouts, rollovers, and power pole strikes. >> first rain of the year is traditionally when we get the most accidents. it pulls the oils up out of the roadway that have been building up throughout the dry months. >> many will be caught up in incidents where other drivers excessive speeding, failure to maintain safe vehicle separation and unsafe maneuvering causes accidents. >> the two biggest things that are going to help you avoid getting into an accident. slow down, increase your following distance. allow yourself time to stop in case there is some other driver who spins out and gets into an accident in front of yo. >> and very often those drivers will be speeding. they won't be paying attention. they hydroplane on the water and then they lose control of the vehicle. and if you happen to be one of the poor saps on either side of that

issued when strong winds and low humidity high tons of wildfire risk santa rosa fire marshal paul lowenthalthe bay area receive recent rainfall but not enough to put in into the fire season. >> definitely not out of the woods yet, but hopefully a lot of the work that residents have done to be in compliance to maintain defensible space. improve the vegetation management could continues to pay off until we do get that scene. it season in rain. >> one red flag warnings are issued. santa rosa residents can track conditions like those wind speeds and humidity points. >> hey, good morning, everybody. look at this from mount tam picture there. the water colors in full bloom that has a beautiful orange hue there at the start your day and are going to say goodbye to that red flag warning for today. we kind of put it together this way, sunny and mild. today's we have kind of left over some decent weather as we lose those winds, although chilly to start mid 70's for the weekend drizzle on saturday, some showers maybe into sunday. just a touch there. but it's not going to be all day and that much the h

paul lowenthal with the santa rosa fire department says the soils are typically dry enough this timeyear to handle runoff. but that's not what's happening with this storm. but this just the volume of rain that we got here again over 6 inches with another potentially. 46, again. >> on top of that over the next couple days, that's that's a lot of rain in a relatively short period of time. there were multiple reports of cars stalling out in flooded roadways and santa rosa thursday, first responders were able to keep up with the increased volume of calls, but with more rain on the way, they're asking drivers to avoid unnecessary risks. please learn from >> and you can see the lines if you got flowing water over the roadway, turn around, don't drown. hancock says it's important to remember if you have your windshield wipers on, you need to have your headlights on as well. she also says that when you have limited visibility to slow down and leave plenty of space between you and the cars in front of you. >> reporting in santa rosa. i'm rob nesbitt. kron. 4 news. >> well, in the east bay, la

. >> over near the sonoma county fairgrounds, paul lowenthal with santa rosa fire says that the strong storms continue to flood streets making for dangerous conditions. if you do see those road closures, i noticed some cars just drove around. i'm not safe. >> correct. and we had that happened again already. one of our roads did start to flood driver, tried to get through it without themselves staff and a colder so that colbert was not able to be seen as a driver. you the flood waters and is exactly how that driver got stuck. we've tried to push the message of not driving flood waters, not driving around closures for a reason. that's another prime example of what happened this morning is a an incident that prompts response from fire and police to get that driver out of harm's way to start working on getting the vehicle out of the out of the colbert. but it's also pulling them away from other critical calls. >> let's talk about something also critical here in santa rose. you can see, but this is the santa rosa creek and it is gotten dangerously high. the water spilling out into the kind

. >> fire marshal lowenthal does not expect swift water rescue teams to be called up. >> this storm is unusually big for the first, you know, the first rain of the year, the california highway patrol is expecting more than the usual count of crashes, spinouts, rollovers, and power pole strikes. first rain of the year is traditionally when we get the most accidents. it pulls the oils up out of the roadway that have been building up throughout the dry months. >> many will be caught up in incidents where other drivers excessive speeding, failure to maintain safe vehicle separation and unsafe maneuvering causes accidents. >> the two biggest things that are going to help you avoid getting into an accident. slow down, increase your following distance. allow yourself time to stop in case there is some other driver who spins out and gets into an accident in front of yo. >> now, the important thing to recognize that this is for santa rosa residents only, and they do check ids. the other thing i want to tell you is the hours, which is really kind of amazing. this will be open until at least and