After a slow start to the rainy season, California is awash in rain and snow as many prepare to travel for the coming holiday. An atmospheric river event arrived slammed the state Sunday, complete with offshore lightning strikes around midnight. The rains triggered a flood advisory through early Monday morning in some Northern California counties including Alameda and Contra Costa. The National Weather Service’s Sacramento office reported several isolated thunderstorms early Monday. Farther north, counties near the Oregon border saw a small chance of freezing rain according to the weather service’s Medford station. The San Francisco Bay Area had received about an inch of rain as of Monday afternoon, particularly south of San Francisco toward Big Sur, meteorologist Crystal Oudit said. 

Related articles: 

• Los Angeles Times: Second storm to hit California, spurring flood, snow advisories 
• SF Gate: Lake Tahoe forecast to see more rain than snow this week
• San Francisco Chronicle: Map shows parts of California that are prone to extreme storms
• ABC – Sacramento: Atmospheric river set to deliver heavy rain to Northern California