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A couple walks underneath vibrant Gingko trees on Greenwood Avenue in Palo Alto. File photo by Veronica Weber.
A couple walks underneath vibrant Gingko trees on Greenwood Avenue in Palo Alto. File photo by Veronica Weber.

Fall has arrived in the Bay Area along with cooler-than-normal temperatures, a chance of rain and dangerous surf conditions along the coast.

A cold front moving down from the Oregon border is expected to bring rain Monday afternoon into Tuesday morning, Sept. 26, particularly for northern Sonoma County and the Mayacamas Mountains, according to the National Weather Service.

“Later today and into this evening we’re going to see a cold front coming through and that will bring rain mostly to the North Bay, although the rest of the Bay Area, San Francisco, the East Bay and Peninsula might get some drizzle from it as well,” said Weather Service meteorologist Dial Hoang.

The system is forecast to drop anywhere from .10 of an inch to .20 of an inch of rain on the North Bay valleys, with higher elevations possibly seeing a half inch to three-quarters of an inch, Hoang said.

Temperatures will remain relatively cool for the next couple of days, with inland valleys topping out around the high 70s to low 80s in the warmest areas and North Bay highs reaching the upper 60s to lower 70s, although the entire region should warm up later in the week as the rain moves past.

In addition to bringing rain, the cold front will rile up the ocean a bit, which prompted the Weather Service to issue a High Surf Advisory from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. Tuesday.

People should be careful at the beaches, where large breaking waves will generally reach around 12 to 16 feet, with some steep-sloped beaches experiencing waves from 15 to 20 feet, Hoang said.

Beaches facing northwest are more likely to see the most hazardous conditions.

Hoang reminded beachgoers to check local tides and currents, say away from jetties and rocks on the shoreline and never turn one’s back on the ocean.

A man walks into Roberts Hardware in Woodside on a rainy day in 2020. Photo by Olivia Treynor.
A man walks into Roberts Hardware in Woodside on a rainy day in 2020. Photo by Olivia Treynor.

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