Rain will continue to pound the Bay Area throughout the weekend, according to a National Weather Service forecaster threatening both tonight's Holiday tree lighting in Dublin and Pleasanton's Holiday parade Saturday evening.

The rainfall and strong winds will continue through Sunday, and will subside early next week, meteorologist Diana Henderson said.

She said Wednesday morning's weather is representative of how the rest of the day will be.

"What you see is a harbinger of the day to come: wet, windy and a slight chance of thunderstorms," she said.

The city of Pleasanton offers free sandbags to local residents and businesses to use in heavy rain. Residents can pick up free sandbags at the city's Service Center at 3333 Busch Road. The sandbags can be picked up at anytime, and are located in the parking lot under a brown tarp.

Henderson said winds of up to 50 mph are possible on the coast and in some areas of the East Bay today. Rain will persist all week and through the weekend, but the winds will die down, she said.

Temperatures are expected be in the lower 60s this week, Henderson said.

"It's going to be chilly and uncomfortable," Henderson said. "But this is not unusual weather for this time of year."

High winds were reported on the San Mateo-Hayward, Richmond-San Rafael and Bay bridges Wednesday morning.

And on northbound U.S. Highway 101 in Marin County, the Sir Francis Drake Boulevard off-ramp near Greenbrae was partially flooded, according to the California Highway Patrol.

"General highway conditions get dicier in this type of weather," Henderson said.

Henderson said there is little threat of local rivers and streams flooding, but that flooding could be a concern by the end of the weekend.

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