Storm totals: This spot just south of Bay Area received 16 inches of rain

The much-hyped atmospheric river that soaked the greater San Francisco Bay Area and Central Coast across three days exited the region Friday with mostly dry conditions forecast through the weekend.

The storm was the biggest of the rainy season so far and delivered some impressive rainfall totals, especially in Monterey County, which saw the most rain in the region. Chalk Peak at elevation 3,080 feet in the Santa Lucia Mountains measured 16 inches across the three days.

These rainfall totals were pulled from the weather service website:

-Chalk Peak in Santa Lucia Mountains: 16 inches

-Lake Elsman in Santa Cruz Mountains: 11.29 inches

-Flores Camp near Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park: 10.28 inches

-Mount Umunhum in South Bay: 7.95 inches

-Boulder Creek: 6.89 inches

-Los Gatos: 5.06 inches

-Stevens Creek: 4.88 inches

-Hills of Dublin-San Ramon: 3.83 inches

-Downtown Monterey: 3.46 inches

-Salinas: 3.07 inches

-San Jose: 2.91 inches

-Mount Diablo Park Headquarters: 2.60 inches

-Palo Alto: 2.20 inches

-Gregory Hill in Fairfield: 2.26 inches

-San Francisco: 2.06 inches

-Mill Valley: 2.05 inches

-Davenport: 2.01 inches

-Half Moon Bay Airport: 1.88 inches

-Concord Pavilion: 1.81 inches

-Tilden Park in Berkeley: 1.95 inches

A view of downtown Oakland and San Francisco are seen from Skyline Boulevard as clouds hang over after a rain and wind storm in Oakland, Calif., on Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2020.

Jane Tyska/Digital First Media/East Bay Times via Getty Images

The powerful storm packing heavy rain, snow and wind arrived Tuesday night and slowly moved south, drifting past Santa Cruz and stalling over Big Sur before pivoting back northward.

Pacific Gas & Electric said overall, about 575,000 customers lost power Tuesday and Wednesday along the northern coast, in the San Francisco and Sacramento areas and elsewhere because of winds, rain and snow.

Evacuation orders were issued in advance in Santa Cruz and San Mateo counties around an area scorched by wildfires ignited last August by lightning. The state also positioned teams with specialized rescue skills in five counties. In the end, Santa Cruz and San Mateo counties dodged major damage and rainfall totals weren’t as high as originally forecast.

Several Central Coast locations hit rainfall totals well over 10 inches when the storm focused on the region midweek.

Mudslides near Salinas south of the Bay Area caused “mild to moderate” damage Wednesday to about two dozen rural ranch homes beneath hillsides scorched by the River Fire last August, said Dorothy Priolo of the Monterey County Regional Fire Protection District.

One woman was treated for broken bones after mud went “completely through the house” in the early morning hours, Priolo said. Fifty horses were rescued.

“We are expecting there could be more earth movement here in the next couple of days,” Priolo said.

Along the scenic Central Coast, Highway 1 was closed near Big Sur after a section of the roadway collapsed when the cliffside below gave way amid torrential rain.

Highway crews were to begin damage assessments Friday, and there was no estimate on when the popular driving route would reopen, the California Department of Transportation said.

A home sits atop a hillside scorched by last year’s River Fire as heavy rains cause mudslides and flooding near Salinas in Monterey County, Calif., on Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021.

Noah Berger/Associated Press

Atmospheric rivers are long, narrow bands of water vapor that form over an ocean and flow through the sky. They occur globally but are especially significant on the West Coast of the United States, where they create 30% to 50% of annual precipitation and are linked to water supply and problems such as flooding and mudslides, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The atmospheric river was part of a major change in weather for California, which had significant drought conditions for months. The dryness contributed to wildfires that scorched more than 4.2 million acres in 2020, the most in recorded modern history.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.