If it stopped right now, we would have enough water in storage for two years of drought. They have already had an entire season's worth of accumulated rain and snow.

That would affect of course the Russian River drainage, some of the drainage around Mount Tam, Corte Madera Creek.

A tide like that prevents the normal drainage from all the creeks and streams that normally drain into the bay. It's like a dam. You combine a 7-foot tide with 15- to 20-foot seas, and you can see why people are worried. Luckily, it's not a commute morning.

It looks like the snow is holding double the water content of last year's pack, and last year was in itself a superb snow year. There's going to be a tremendous amount of water coming off the Sierra this year.

You get a 6- or 7-foot high tide, it's like a 2-foot wall backing up the flood water, preventing it from going out into the bay. Luckily, even though tides will be building next week, none will be unusually high.