‘Nonzero chance’ of North Bay thunderstorms Saturday evening

There is a “nonzero chance” thunderstorms will form over the North Bay Saturday evening, according to the National Weather Service.

The bulk of the activity is expected to occur from Eureka north into Oregon, said Nicole Sarment, a meteorologist in the weather service’s Monterey office. She put the odds of thunder and lightning locally at less than 10%.

“We’re keeping an eye on it, but we’re not overly concerned about it” in the North Bay, Sarment said.

Still, she added, “any thunderstorm has the capability of producing lightning. And it’s fire season, so fields are very dry.”

By 1 p.m., people on the social media site Reddit were posting reports of light rain from neighborhoods around the Santa Rosa area. They included Larkfield, Sebastopol, Rincon Valley and Spring Lake.

The Press Democrat will monitor any lightning strikes and related fires, should they occur.

You can reach Phil Barber at 707-521-5263 or phil.barber@pressdemocrat.com. On X (Twitter) @Skinny_Post.