Winter storm could bring inches of rain to Bay Area and create hazardous driving in Sierra

LARKSPUR, Calif. (KGO) -- Wind and rain could pound the Bay Area this week and bring several feet of snow to the Sierra, making driving treacherous.

Watch out. Some fierce, wet, windy weather is approaching the Bay Area. California Highway Patrol wants drivers to slow down out there.

"It's always important to reduce your speed, increase following distance. It takes a longer distance to stop a vehicle in the wet roadway conditions," said CHP Officer Arthur Tellez.

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PG&E says it's preparing for the extreme weather by staging equipment and materials at the Half Moon Bay Airport, just in case storm repairs are needed.

"We have nearly 2,000 personnel prepared and staged. They could be deployed in anticipation of this weather, as well as 2,000 tree crews to respond if and when an outage does occur," said Dave Canny, PG&E North Coast VP.

Canny says downed power lines are possible.

"Treat any downed wire as if it's live. Stay away from that -- keep children and pets away," he said.

The Sierra could see multiple feet of snow.

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Caltrans posted on social media about hazardous mountain travel through Wednesday, with whiteout conditions, chain controls and road closures. It says travel is "highly discouraged."

Cole Zimmerman from Heavenly Mountain Resort said Sunday's blue skies in Tahoe would soon make way for a storm, which could deliver much needed snow to the region.

"Hopefully, we'll be measuring this one in feet, rather than inches. It's no surprise it's been dry around here since the holidays, so we're excited to get some snow back on the mountain here," Zimmerman said.