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Sonoma County will begin 2026 with another wave of rain and gusty winds, although conditions shouldn’t be nearly as bad as what happened during the week leading up to Christmas when a Guerneville home and several vehicles were crushed by a fallen tree.

Light rain began to fall Wednesday morning. By Friday evening, lower elevations may receive up to 1.5 inches of rain with 3 inches expected in the mountains. Napa County is on tap for 2.5 inches of rain during that same period across lower-lying areas.

Beginning later Friday night into Saturday, an atmospheric river will develop and may dump another 2.5 inches of rain onto lower areas by Sunday night. Local mountains could get up to 4 inches of precipitation. Similar conditions are expected across Napa County.

Gusty winds aren’t expected until Friday night, beginning around 8 p.m. Throughout the weekend, they may reach 35 mph across local communities but peak at 40 mph in the mountains. Speeds should be about half the strength of last week’s gusts, which reached 80 mph at higher elevations.

No flood watch is in effect nor is the Russian River expected to flood, according to the latest forecasts put out Wednesday afternoon by the  California Nevada River Forecast Center, operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Forecasts show the river may crest Monday morning at 25 feet — well below the flood stage of 32 feet.

“It doesn’t seem to be as bad as last week, but it’s still an opportunity to take it seriously,” said Rachel Kennedy, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Bay Area office in Monterey.

Light rain may still be present Monday and Tuesday, according to Kennedy.

Sonoma County is just a week removed from destruction that occurred the morning of Dec. 24 as Sonoma County was pounded by gusts reaching 79 mph at the highest elevations. Trees had become more prone to falling following several days of rain that saturated soil across the region.

The conditions were part of an atmospheric river that started Dec. 19 and trailed off the day after Christmas. It dumped 5.33 inches of precipitation at the Charles M. Schulz-Sonoma County Airport, the National Weather Service’s main reporting station in Sonoma County.

You can reach Staff Writer Colin Atagi at colin.atagi@pressdemocrat.com.