The National Weather Service has issued a flood advisory warning for Nevada County after the area was hit with 4.74 inches of rain in a 12-hour period.

“Snow levels are very high right now and there’s rain all through (Interstate 80) and over the pass,” meteorologist Travis Wilson said. “We issued a flood advisory because of the heavy rain and snow melt going on.”

Wilson said to expect the rain to taper off sometime tonight through the end of the weekend.

“I would say the next big system would be Tuesday morning,” he said. “That’s looking like another good shot of rain.”

Grass Valley Police Department sergeant Brian Blakemore said the storm has produced some flooding in known problem areas, particularly on Ridge Road and Mill Street, and they’ve shut down a half-mile stretch of Idaho-Maryland Road between Sutton Way and Brunswick Road. Blakemore did not have any target time for reopening the road.

“We’ve had some residences affected by the rain but there is, to my knowledge, no structural damage,” Blakemore said. “We’ve had staff clearing out storm drains throughout the morning, but overall the streets seem to be holding up well… We’ve had no traffic accidents and no injuries, so those have been two really good things.

“We just remind people to watch out for public works staff and officers and drive slow.”

“There are some drainage issues,” said John Gulserian, the program manager for the Nevada County Office of Emergency Services. “Folks need to be cautious. It doesn’t take much water to push you off the road, and when you’ve got more than three inches and it’s fast-moving water that’s a danger.”

There are sandbags available at the Higgins Fire Department Station 21 at 10106 Combie Road at the Highway 49 intersection and at North Bloomfield and Highway 49.

“It’s a bring-your-own-shovel deal,” Gulserian said.

Flood advisories have also been issued for the following counties: Placer, Sierra, northeastern Yuba, El Dorado, southern Plumas, Amador, northwestern Calaveras, northwestern Alpine, central Butte and southeastern Tehama.

The National Weather Service forecasts continued rain throughout Saturday:

Today

Rain. The rain could be heavy at times. High near 52. South southwest wind 15 to 21 mph, with gusts as high as 29 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New precipitation amounts between 1 and 2 inches possible.

Tonight

Rain, mainly before 10pm. Low around 37. South wind 3 to 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible.

Sunday

Partly sunny, with a high near 48. East wind around 5 mph becoming light and variable in the afternoon.

Sunday Night

Mostly cloudy, with a low around 37. South wind around 5 mph becoming east in the evening.

More scenes from a heavy day of rainfall