Dec. 10th-11th, 2014 Bay Area Storm

Radar imagery from the National Weather Service.

The strongest storm of the past decade is supposed to happen on December 10th-11th, 2014. Winds are expected to reach up to 35mph, with speeds around 70mph possible at high altitudes. The storm acquired the hashtag #BayAreaStorm and #hellastorm on social media.

The National Weather Service has said the strongest of the winds will occur between 8am-1pm on Thursday the 11th, and that between 4 and 6 inches of rain is expected.

What's going to happen?

The power might go out. Make sure you have some flashlights and some food you can cook without power!
Trees are going to get knocked over, making it difficult for cars and buses to move around, and possible damaging houses. Even trees with deep roots may be knocked over because the amount of rain predicted could cause soil liquefaction.
Streets will flood, due to blocked storm drains and our street's funky hills and curves.

How to get sandbags

The SF Department of Public Works is currently out of sandbags. Check their twitter to find out when they are giving out sandbags again.

Timeline

A tech shuttle submerged at Cesar Chavez. Photo by Flare, used with permission.

280 near Colma, 8:00am. Photo by Tara Ginsberg, used with permission.

2014-12-10: On the afternoon of the 10th, SFUSD Superintended Richard A. Carranza announced all SF public schools would be closed on Thursday due to the impending storm.
2014-12-10, 1pm: SFO cancels 25 flights, mostly flights along the West Coast.
2014-12-10, 5pm: SF Department of Public Works announced that they'd given out 12,000 sandbags, but is currently out of sandbags.
2014-12-10, 7pm: Schools announced closed in Oakland, Alameda County, Novato. SF State and City College also closing on Thursday.
2012-12-11, 5am: 174 flights cancelled at SFO.
2012-12-11, 5am: Golden Gate Bridge using the middle lane as a safety buffer during storm, set with 3 lanes SB, 2 NB.
2012-12-11, 6:30am: Reports of power outages in the Outer Sunset, with the PG&E outage map showing 63 houses at 6:36 AM affected.
2012-12-11, 7:30am: Massive power outages begin throughout the city. PG&E's outage map remains unreliable throughout the day.
2012-12-11, 8:00am: Flash flood warning issued for SF and San Mateo Counties. Power out to 70,000 PG&E customers in SF.
2012-12-11, 8:05am: Montgomery BART station closed.
2012-12-11, 9:44am: Power continues to be out to 80,000 PG&E customers. An outage at the PG&E Larkin Substation is responsible for this outage, claims PG&E.
2012-12-11, 4pm'ish: Power begins returning to many homes throughout the city.
2012-12-11, 8pm: Slow wind and rain continues. The PG&E outage map shows approximately 5,000 SF residents without reliable power.

Photos

Animated wind forecast for 10AM, Thursday the 11th.Radar data at 7:42PM, 2014-12-10

A light rain around 6pm on Wednesday night. Photo 2014-12-10, Divisadero and McAllister.Storm drains begin blocking up around 8am. Photo 8am, Western Addition.