Water Damage Restoration in San Francisco, CA

Farmers Insurance Group, the second largest home insurer in California, plans to begin writing more homeowners policies in anticipation of reforms coming in 2025.

In July 2023, Farmers capped the number of new residential insurance policies it would write at 7,000 a month. Now, it will increase that cap to 9,500 new customers per month, including home, condo owner and home renters policies. This will be the first time since April 2023 that Farmers has accepted new applications for condo and home renters insurance policies, a spokesperson told the Chronicle.

Last year, a Farmers spokesperson told the Chronicle the cap was necessary due to “record-breaking inflation, severe weather events, and reconstruction costs continuing to climb.” But in a Wednesday release, Behram Dinshaw, Farmers Insurance’s president of personal lines, said the company recognized that California’s insurance market had improved.

“With the impending implementation of Commissioner Ricardo Lara’s Sustainable Insurance Strategy in the coming year, we want to be well-positioned to provide even more coverage options to residents in the state,” Dinshaw said in a statement.

In April, a representative for Allstate indicated that the insurer — which stopped writing new home insurance policies in November 2022 — would also begin taking new customers after the Sustainable Insurance Strategy was fully implemented and it could “fully reflect the cost of providing protection to customers.” The insurer has not provided a specific timeline.

State Farm, the other major California insurer to stop writing new home insurance policies, has not sent any similar signals. Instead, it has told regulators it’s in need of major rate increases to save itself from insolvency. As part of that request, State Farm General, State Farm’s California-only subsidiary, has projected its total policy count may instead drop by 1 million.

The state’s strategy encapsulates reforms that experts say will likely raise prices for many customers, but will increase the availability of insurance in areas where wildfire risk is high and insurance options are scarce. In order to make use of the reforms, companies that don’t already have a significant presence in those areas will be required to write more policies there.

In 2023, Farmers’ nine subsidiaries collectively made up 15.5% of the California home insurance market measured by premiums, according to data from the Department of Insurance.

Late last year, one of those subsidiaries — Farmers Direct Property and Casualty Insurance Co. — withdrew from the California market, though regulators said many of the subsidiary’s customers would be offered coverage through other subsidiaries. Then, in January, its subsidiary Foremost Insurance Co. stopped offering condo insurance. One realtor told the Chronicle the move had a large impact on communities with large condo developments, such as San Diego.

Despite that, Farmers’ three largest subsidiaries, which make up just under 14% of the California market, continued to write new home insurance policies, though under the 7,000 a month cap then in effect. The three have raised rates several times over the past few years, including consecutive 6.9% increases that went into effect in March and then August of this year. Starting in April 2023, Farmers began non-renewing just over 15,000 customers, about 1.3% of its total policies, due to wildfire risk, according to filings with the Department of Insurance.

Earlier this year, Farmers also opened back up to new applications for certain types of commercial insurance, including commercial landlord insurance, as well as manufactured homes.

Later this month, Farmers will also begin writing new personal umbrella insurance policies, which it hasn’t done since July 2023; these policies offer extra liability coverage. In March, the insurer also plans to reopen to manufactured home landlord insurance and certain types of dwelling fire insurance through its Foremost brand.

“We continuously monitor the changing market environment and make adjustments, as appropriate,” a spokesperson wrote in a statement.

Reach Megan Fan Munce: megan.munce@sfchronicle.com

Dec 11, 2024|Updated Dec 11, 2024 11:46 a.m.

Reporter

Megan Fan Munce is a reporter on the climate team covering California’s home insurance crisis. She writes about the California FAIR Plan; State Farm non-renewals; pullbacks by other insurers such as Allstate and Farmers; policy initiatives from the California Department of Insurance; and how homeowners in the Bay Area and elsewhere are navigating the challenges.

Munce first joined the San Francisco Chronicle as part of the two-year Hearst Journalism Fellowship, spending her first year of the program at the Houston Chronicle. She grew up in San Jose before attending Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism.

UPDATED FORECAST: Storms pushing toward Bay Area will bring high surf to beaches, raising coastal flooding risk

The San Francisco Bay Area’s multi-week dry stretch is coming to an end.

A system Wednesday night will bring a soaking rain to all of Northern California, although its meager totals and relatively light winds will fall short of qualifying as a full blown storm. Less than 48 hours later, a more powerful storm could have wide-ranging impacts, including heavy rain and snow, strong winds and large waves capable of causing coastal flooding.

Here’s what to know about the two weathermakers.

Weak disturbance Wednesday night

Another frosty morning is expected in the North Bay and East Bay valleys Wednesday. Temperatures will climb to the upper 50s to mid-60s throughout the Bay Area in the afternoon under an overcast deck of high clouds. The daylight hours will remain free of rain, with a fresh southwest breeze clearing the haze out of the area.

Rain showers will begin in the North Bay in the late evening, reaching San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose sometime between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. Rainfall totals will generally be around a half inch in the North Bay, a tenth of an inch in the South Bay and somewhere in between in San Francisco, San Mateo, Alameda and Contra Costa counties.

About a half-inch of rain is also expected in the Sacramento Valley. Steady rainfall overnight will transition to isolated showers Thursday morning.

A winter weather advisory is in effect for the west slope of the Sierra Nevada from 10 p.m. Wednesday to 4 p.m. Thursday. Elevations above 5,000 feet are forecast to receive 3 to 9 inches of snow. The Tahoe basin is expected to pick up only a few inches of snow.

Atmospheric river-fueled storm Friday and Saturday

Unlike the midweek system, a much bigger storm Friday into Saturday will not only be wet but will feature big waves and wind.

Astronomical high tides, also known as king tides, will peak this weekend. King tides alone can cause local coastal flooding, but large waves and strong winds Saturday will likely amplify the threat. Breaking waves of 15 to 20 feet are possible along the coast, with gusts of 45 mph or stronger producing storm surge. Low-lying parking lots and other near-coastal areas may be inundated. A coastal flood advisory is in effect from 6 a.m. Thursday to 1 p.m. Monday for the bay shoreline along San Francisco Bay and San Pablo Bay.

The storm will tap into a narrow plume of subtropical moisture known as an atmospheric river. Rainfall efficiency will be maximized under this moisture-rich plume, with 2 to 5 inches of rain possible in the North Bay from Friday morning through midday Saturday. The Weather Prediction Center forecasts a marginal risk of excessive rainfall capable of producing flash flooding in Eureka, Ukiah and Santa Rosa on Saturday.

About 1 to 3 inches of rain is forecast in Redding and Chico, with lighter totals in the Sacramento area.

San Francisco and Oakland could pick up 1 to 2 inches of rain from this storm, although potential exists for higher amounts if the atmospheric river may slow or temporarily stall Saturday morning. This same mechanism resulted in urban flooding in San Francisco in November.

After the weekend storm, snow accumulation will be tallied in feet, rather than inches. However, the second storm will be slightly warmer, with the heaviest snowfall expected to remain above 6,000 feet.

Wednesday breakdown

San Francisco: Dry weather will prevail during the day, although skies should become overcast by the late afternoon, a precursor to the overnight rainfall. A few showers are possible in the evening, but steady rain probably won’t begin until 10 p.m. Around a quarter-inch of rain is expected near the water and up to a half inch atop Mount Davidson and Twin Peaks. Gusts upward of 30 mph are also possible overnight. Only isolated showers are expected by Thursday morning. Highs will be in the upper 50s to low 60s with lows in the low 50s.

North Bay: Sonoma County will be the first area to be hit by rain, with showers beginning as early as 8 p.m. Widespread steady rain is expected to pick up around 11 p.m. and continue through the night, totaling around a half inch in Santa Rosa, San Rafael and Napa and a quarter inch in Fairfield and Vacaville. Higher totals are likely in the Mayacamas Mountains and around Mount Tamalpais. Gusts up to 20 mph will accompany the overnight rain. Wednesday’s highs will be around 60, with overnight temperatures dropping to the low to mid-40s.

East Bay: Patchy fog may accompany the frosty morning, especially near the delta. Haze will gradually clear as winds increase in the afternoon. Highs will reach the low to mid-60s under partly cloudy skies. Rain should hold off until around midnight and then continue until sunrise. Rainfall totals will generally be around a tenth to a quarter of an inch, heaviest in the Berkeley Hills. Gusts of 15 to 25 mph will accompany the rainfall. Lows will be in the upper 40s.

Pacific Coast and Peninsula: Partly to mostly cloudy skies are expected, with patchy morning fog along the coast. Highs will be in the upper 50s along the coast and low 60s along the Interstate 280 and Highway 101 corridors. Showers will hold off until well after dark, with rainfall amounts around a quarter inch. Gusts up to 40 mph are possible along the coast in the early morning hours. Overnight lows will be in the upper 40s to low 50s.

South Bay and Santa Cruz: Increasing clouds won’t be enough to dampen temperatures in the South Bay. Light south-southwest winds rushing over the Santa Cruz Mountains will result in warming on the downwind side. San Jose, Milpitas and Sunnyvale should reach the mid-60s, with upper 60s in Saratoga, Morgan Hill and Gilroy. Rain will begin after midnight, totaling up to a tenth of an inch by daybreak. Lows will be in the upper 40s.

Dry conditions will prevail during the day across Santa Cruz County, but increasing clouds will indicate changes coming overnight. Steady light rain will pick up around midnight and wrap up by sunrise Thursday. Up to a quarter inch of rain is expected, with the highest totals in the mountains. Highs will be in the low to mid-60s, with lows in the mid- to upper 40s.

Reach Anthony Edwards: Anthony.Edwards@sfchronicle.com; Threads: @edwardsanthonyb; Bluesky: @edwardsanthonyb.bsky.social

Dec 11, 2024

Newsroom Meteorologist

Anthony Edwards is a newsroom meteorologist at The San Francisco Chronicle.

He joins the Chronicle from the University of Washington where he was previously the president of the campus weather forecasting team and an editor at the student newspaper, The Daily UW.

Edwards enjoys exploring San Francisco's parks, playing tennis, hiking, swimming and attending a ballgame when the Mariners visit the Giants and the Athletics.

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

From outdoor ice skating to holiday markets where you can buy gifts from local makers, we've compiled a list of holiday happenings all over the Bay Area to help you celebrate the holiday season.

Did we miss any events? If you want us to add an event to this list, please email us at newstips@nbcbayarea.com.

Union Square Holiday Ice Rink

Address: 333 Post St, San Francisco, California, 94102

Time and Date: From Nov. 6 to Jan. 20, select times from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Website: unionsquareicerink.com

Union Square Winter Walk

Address: Located on Stockton Street from Post to O’Farrell

Time and Date: From Dec. 13 to Dec. 22, Monday through Wednesday, noon to 7 p.m. | Thursdays though Sundays from 10 a.m. to 9pm

Website: visitunionsquaresf.com

California's Great America's WinterFest

Address: 4701 Great America Pkwy, Santa Clara, CA 95054

Time and Date: From Nov. 29 to Jan. 5

Website: cagreatamerica.com

Oakland Zoo's Glowfari

Address: 9777 Golf Links Rd, Oakland, CA 94605

Time and Date: Select dates from Dec. 1 to Jan. 26 at 4 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Website: oaklandzoo.org

Christmas in the Park in San Jose

Address: 1 Paseo de San Antonio, San Jose, CA 95113

Time and Date: Select hours through Jan. 1

Website: christmasinthepark.com

Winterfest Sausalito

Address: Gabrielson Park Humboldt Ave & Anchor Street Sausalito, CA 94965

Time and Date: Dec. 14 and Dec. 15

Website: winterfestsausalito.com

Fairy Winterland at Children's Fairyland

Address: 699 Bellevue Avenue, Oakland, CA 94610

Time and Date: Select dates through Dec. 30 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Website: fairyland.org

Telegraph Avenue Holiday Street Fair

Address: Telegraph Avenue ​between Bancroft and Haste, Berkeley CA

Time and Date: Dec. 14, Dec. 15 and Dec. 21, Dec. 24 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Website: telegraphfair.com

Did we miss any events? If you want us to add an event to this list, please email us at newstips@nbcbayarea.com.

An earthquake off the California coast prompted a tsunami warning for more than 5 million people, sending many scrambling for higher ground.

Lucas Combos, Patch Staff

|Updated Fri, Dec 6, 2024 at 5:39 am PT

The Fire Department patrols at Ocean Beach in San Francisco while people watch the waves on higher ground during a tsunami warning on Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Emily Steinberger)

SAN FRANCISCO — A magnitude 7 earthquake rattled Northern California Thursday morning, triggering a tsunami warning for millions on the West Coast as coastal communities braced for the worst. Over the next hour, cities from Eureka to San Francisco urged their residents to seek higher ground and stay away from the coast.

The warning was canceled shortly before noon after forecasters detected no significant change to water levels.

According to the Tsunami Warning Center, warnings are usually issued when coastal earthquakes reach magnitude 6.5 or higher. Speaking at a news conference Thursday, Gov. Gavin Newsom said it was state protocol to issue warnings whenever a quake of magnitude 5 or greater struck a coastal region.

Here are five things to know about Thursday's earthquake and tsunami warning:

According to the United States Geological Survey, the magnitude 7.0 Offshore Cape Mendocino earthquake happened roughly 62 miles southwest of Ferndale, off the coast of California, in an area known as the Mendocino Fracture Zone.

Find out what's happening in San Franciscowith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"This earthquake occurred in the vicinity of the Mendocino triple junction — the region where the Pacific, North America, and Juan de Fuca/Gorda plates meet," the USGS said Thursday. "Focal mechanism solutions indicate that rupture occurred as a result of strike-slip faulting on a steeply dipping fault striking either east-southeast or north-northeast."

Federal geologists consider the "triple junction" a common region for earthquakes. The USGS noted that the magnitude 6.4 Ferndale earthquake was recorded on Dec. 20, 2022, roughly 47 miles east of Thursday's magnitude 7 event. A 6.2 magnitude earthquake happened approximately 56 miles east in 2021. Even stronger quakes have occurred in prior decades, but Thursday's magnitude 7 is in somewhat rarer company.

"In the past century, there have been at least 40 other earthquakes of M6 or larger, including five earthquakes M7 or larger, within (155.3 miles) of the December 5, 2024, earthquake," the USGS said. "These prior earthquakes primarily occurred along the Mendocino transform fault, in the Cascadia subduction zone, or within the Juan de Fuca/Gorda plate."

A cluster of more than two dozen aftershocks were recorded offshore in the wake of the magnitude 7 earthquake, and two on land in Petrolia in the early afternoon. According to the USGS, aftershocks are smaller earthquakes that typically happen in the same general area after a larger event and continue until the "background seismicity level" has resumed.

"As a general rule, aftershocks represent minor readjustments along the portion of a fault that slipped at the time of the mainshock," the USGS said. "The frequency of these aftershocks decreases with time."

According to the USGS ShakeMap, shaking was felt strongest in communities along the Humboldt County coastline, including Petrolia, Ferndale and Fortuna, south of Eureka. Milder tremors rippled through much of Northern California and across the Bay Area. In San Francisco, residents reported feeling a rolling motion for several seconds, followed by several aftershocks.

There were no immediate reports of major damage or injuries. In Ferndale, the community nearest the quake's epicenter, a fire official told the New York Times only minor property damage was reported.

The outsized impact of the earthquake was a broad tsunami warning, which was in place for more than an hour along hundreds of miles of coastline, stretching from southwest Oregon down to the edge of Monterey Bay. Approximately 5.3 million people were within the warning zone, prompting localized alerts, brief evacuations and urgent calls to leave coastal areas for higher ground. The warning was canceled a few minutes before noon.

According to the National Weather Service, an active tsunami warning indicates the imminent danger of widespread coastal flooding and powerful currents. Those living within the warning area are instructed to avoid coastal and low-lying areas and move to higher ground or further inland. Tsunami watches, advisories, and warnings are updated and canceled as actual conditions become clearer.

In California, officials urge residents who live within a tsunami hazard zone to develop an emergency plan, know their evacuation routes, and ensure they are signed up to receive local emergency notifications. Residents can find more information about the specific hazards to their property by searching their address on the Office of Emergency Services website.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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A tsunami warning for the coastal areas of Oregon and Northern California was cancelled just over an hour after a major 7.0 earthquake struck the region on Wednesday morning.

The National Tsunami Warning Center originally issued an alert telling people in the affected area to move to higher ground immediately. The warning extended from Florence, Oregon, to Davenport, California and included the densely populated San Francisco Bay Area.

"Tsunami warnings mean that a tsunami with significant inundation is possible or is already occurring. Tsunamis are a series of waves dangerous many hours after initial arrival time. The first wave may not be the largest," the warning read.

A bulletin from the National Weather Service issued at 11:54 a.m. local time said that the threat of a tsunami had passed.

"Do not re-occupy hazard zones until local emergency officials indicate it is safe to do so," the advisory reads.

Social media users in Northern California reported getting the tsunami warning through a mass alert sent to their phones. Others reported feeling the ground sway beneath them. At Fort Mason in San Francisco's Marina District, which sits about 50 feet above sea level, a crowd had started to form of people looking for a glimpse of a tsunami wave that never came.

The original quake struck about 40 miles west of Petrolia, a small unincorporated community in Humboldt County at 10:44 a.m. local time, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

At least 10,000 customers were without power in Humboldt County, according to an online database that tracks outages.

The Bay Area's rapid transit network (BART) suspended service through the underwater tunnel that connects San Francisco and Oakland as a precaution.

The San Francisco Zoo said it was evacuating guests and securing animals before staff moved to high ground.

The city of Berkeley issued an evacuation order, telling residents in the western part of the city to immediately head east.

"Tsunami coming to West Berkeley. EVACUATE NOW. Stay east of 7th St. See http://tsunami.gov. Immediate threat to life. This is a lawful order to leave now. The area is lawfully closed to public access," the citywide alert read.

When reached by phone, a spokesperson for the University of California - Berkeley told Newsweek they were unaware of any impacts to the university's core campus.

California Governor Gavin Newsom said he was activating state emergency procedures, according to the governor's office. There were no immediate reports of injuries or major damage from the quake.

There have only been about a dozen earthquakes in California that registered at or above a 7.0 since 1857, according to the state's department of conservation, the most recent being a 7.1 temblor that struck near Ridgecrest in July 2019.