Heavy rains soak the San Francisco Bay Area

Heavy rains that began Monday evening and continued into Monday morning have delivered a drenching throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. The downpours have caused flooding on roadways throughout the region. As a result, numerous traffic accidents have been reported. 

The National Weather Service reports that as of 2:50 a.m., much of Marin and Sonoma Counties had .25"-.50" in an hour while San Francisco had .10"-.25" of rain. At 5:48 a.m. a flood advisory was issued for Alameda, Contra Costa, San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties. 

The rains have already caused plenty of chaos on the roads. KCBS reports a rockslide blocking the southbound lane of Highway 1 north of the Tom Lantos Tunnel. The station also reports three lanes blocked on 580 near Park Blvd. in Oakland due to flooding. Also, a tree down on Highway 4 before Railroad is blocking 3 lanes, leaving only the left lane open. 

The NWS also reported heavy winds this morning with several areas registering gusts over 60 mph. The top wind in the region was South Black Diamond Way in Contra Costa County where gusts hit 76 mph. 

Due to the heavy winds, Caltrans has a high wind advisory in effect in the Bay Area and recommends against travel for campers, trailers or permit loads. In the Sierra, chains are required on all vehicles that are not 4-wheel drive.

The rainy weather is expected to continue throughout the week. The next chance for rain is expected to arrive Wednesday or Thursday night, quickly followed by another system on Thursday or Friday night, bringing another one to three inches of rain across most of the region. 

This is a developing story.