Doozy of a storm up north, now headed our way (video)

Screen grab of high surf on Lake Tahoe

An old-fashioned Pacific winter storm that slammed into Northern California has flooded streets and highways, registered some astonishing wind speeds — over 100 miles an hour in the Sierra — and forced the public schools to close in San Francisco and Oakland. The high winds blowing across the Sierra Nevada kicked up real waves on Lake Tahoe — it happens — and brought out a hardy surfer or two. From KRNV in Reno:

Travel has not been very fun all day on the mountain highways. Westbound traffic on Interstate 80 has been held at Donner Summit due to a jack-knifed truck. Travel on U.S. 395 is not advised north of Bishop for campers or trailers due to the winds.

One thing to keep in mind as you watch it all unfold on social media. This is a newsworthy weather event for Northern California, but far from epic. That distinction may not come across in the excited tweets and blog posts of the journalism enthusiasts experiencing their first social rain storm since being employed as clickbait manufacturers. Here's the San Francisco Chronicle context:

The biggest storm to hit the drought-ravaged state in years inundated roads and highways all over the Bay Area, forcing some motorists to abandon cars in the face of the rushing torrent. While the damage was serious in some areas, the deluge prompted adventure-seekers in Healdsburg to paddle kayaks around a flooded shopping center.

“This was a fairly intense storm. I would put it in the top five of the last decade,” said Mark Strudley, a hydrologist for the National Weather Service. “It’s been one of the more powerful storms we've seen in quite some time.”

Flooding was widespread as clogged storm drains overflowed and creeks and tributaries went over their banks. The North Bay got the brunt of the flooding, Strudley said, but streets, parking lots and low-lying areas were inundated in Novato, Fremont, Pacifica and other places.

Clogged storm drains are a bitch. They will be more clear for the next storm. Anyway, it's all headed south and is due to arrive in the Los Angeles area tonight. Per the National Weather Service:

Also: Here are some rainfall totals around Nothern California. Yes, that says eight inches in parts of Sonoma County. No wonder there was flooding in Healdsburg.