Let us pause a moment, a moment for Napa, which, and according to their reliable local sheet, has escaped the wrath of this storm, by about half, and good for them they had an earthquake.

West Marin is flooded, is gushing, is alive and flowing. Gulping it. Gorging on the endless drops, but this too shall pass, to the south. There’s some good luck with this storm, its timing, say the Marin emergency folks – we’re edging off a “low” high tide, which helps to keep the surge at bay. A blessing in that. 

I took a bike ride around the Big Mesa in Bolinas earlier. Saw a couple of big evergreen branches that bit it in the whipping night, one was yards from the house and obliterated a section of fence. Had to look real high to see where that branch fell from. What a crash. Nobody’s home. 

Of course, there’s chicken soup with a bacon and mushroom extender, bubbling away all day back home, made sure to have a big mug before heading out into the squalling.

A street-cleaner is working the bigger roads, the trash collectors are coming around too. Schools out, but these trucks can take it. 

Houses up here aren’t always occupied and some very rarely so. Now there’s a purple van in that one luxe driveway along Ocean Parkway at the very edge of the continent. I’ve seen that guy once in a year. The road here is straight and still paved, but the remorseless erosion claws at the edges up and down – up this way, it curves to a dirt road with county berms (and a large branch in the road, today) to discourage entry. The other way, the cool hippie house on the really fragile corner. They’ve moved out, there’s a  gravel berm at the fringe of asphalt, a fresh one, but the road is just rippling into the cliff and down to the churning relentless sea. 

Along the way down, an earthslide’s spotted, a black-brown gash of dirt-root in the greening cliff. Chewing the road.

The winds died down in the afternoon, a gentle cold pour. The sun is up there somewhere, afternoon gale before the long droning raindrops to sunset. The raingear is inadequate but bless those good rubber boots and thick socks. Warm and dry head and feet, and the awaiting soup, extended with bacon. Rich roasting coffee and the drips. 

Outside the storm is holding on, pounding out the inches, and people are clearing the roadside culverts of the leaves and debris and checking their sandbags, they take care of business up here. 

As the winter storm grinds across the region, the good news in Sonoma County is county emergency ops people are “significantly downscaling” their expectation of the high water mark for the Russian River.

After forecasting a possible peak of 37.5 feet, officials now expect about a 34 foot peak in the river, tomorrow at 10 a.m. “There still will be flooding at the Russian River but we expect a much lower impact,” says Rebecca Wachsberg at the emergency ops center.

Still, they’re ready to ramp up evac procedures if needed, Noah, even as the county downscales the voluntary get-out planning and its pre-plan expectations of low-lying residents in light of the re-scaled storm expectations. Emergency workers “have the capacity to scale it up if they need to,” says Wachsberg, “but we’re not anticipating it.”

For commuters: There are still 61 roads closed around the county, says Wachsberg. Take it for what it’s worth, and next time: stay home.

Hey, more good news from Wachsberg: Power’s been restored to about half of the 20,000 who lost it at the high point of darkness earlier today.

In Marin County, there are cows presently blocking the road on Sir Francis Drake Boulevard as crews try to clear power lines that came down with a tree not long ago.

The Drake’s now closed in both directions in Lagunitas, says Talia Smith, a public information officer with the Marin County Emergency Services.

Along with other daylong road closures in West Marin, the closed and then reopened, 37 Connector at Highway 101 is now CLOSED. For the time being, they hope.

The biggest problem in Marin is flooding, downed trees and lines, and Mill Valley is taking the biggest hit on the flood front. Latest to wash out, says Smith, is Sycamore Park, between Miller Ave and East Blithesdale.

No crushed cars anywhere in the county, Smith reports – and one downed branch put some minor damage on a house.

High tide is now, or just about a half our after, as we crank out this blog in Bolinas, where it is pouring even as as the storm moves south, according to Smith and all the weather folks out there.

The biggest damage this reporter could see in Bolinas, at least in the immediate ’hood: The Paul Collet memorial bench along Ocean Parkway, crushed – a fallen branch from the big evergreen that provides shade.

Many days you can see S.F. from this spot. Today?! Hah! There’s brown muck churning at the surge-point as it eats the cliffs below, with sluices of sheer runoff roiling everywhere – piles of debris, water just pouring and tearing the place up. It’s pouring again.

There was so much hype surrounding the coming storm that doubters started to grouse that it wouldn’t deliver. The winds weren’t as strong as predicted but it turned out to be every bit as wet as predicted.

The rain started falling Wednesday afternoon and grew in intensity all night. We’re at five inches and counting in the West County. Power was out in pockets of the West County and Santa Rosa Thursday morning and schools closed county-wide. Healdsburg’s Foss Creek spilled its banks and caused widespread flooding and road closures. Meanwhile, we’re keeping and eye on the Russian River. And rain is still falling.

How are you holding up? Got a storm story to share? Let us know in the comments below.