California expecting record high winds and rain

World Today

California StormsAidan Stephenson,12, and Conor Stephenson,10, visiting from Phoenix, watch the waves break on Ocean View Boulevard, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2014, in Pacific Grove, Calif. Northern California residents are bracing for a powerful storm that could be the biggest in five years and which prompted the National Weather Service to issue a high wind and flash flood warning. The storm is expected to arrive Wednesday and pelt the region through Thursday. (AP Photo/Monterey Herald, Vern Fisher)

SAN FRANCISCO  — A storm expected to be one of the windiest and rainiest in five years swept across the San Francisco Bay Area on Thursday, knocking out power to tens to thousands and delaying travel by air, train and ferry. 

Pacific Gas & Electric is reporting outages are widespread across the Bay Area due to weather, but officials weren’t immediately available to give a specific number of outages.

A spokesman for Bay Area Rapid Transit says a PG&E transformer appeared to have malfunctioned near the system’s Montgomery Street station. Jim Allison said the station has been shut to both BART trains and trains from the city’s Muni transit system and there’s no estimate on when it will reopen.

High winds canceled some ferry service east of San Francisco. At least 10 ferry departures around the region were canceled Thursday due to weather conditions, the San Francisco Bay Ferry reported on its website.

Brief gusts of wind blasted the Golden Gate Bridge and high waves were crashing.

Some flights arriving at San Francisco International Airport were facing delays averaging three hours and 40 minutes, The Federal Aviation Administration reported on its website.

Public schools in several Bay Area cities, including San Francisco, Oakland and Berkeley, and some private schools canceled Thursday classes.

Story compiled with information from The Associated Press.