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Tree branches bordering the Palo Alto High School Quad fell as a result of the rainstorm on Sunday. According to Assistant Principal Jerry Berkson, the result of the rainstorm wasn't as severe as he predicted, and he doesn't foresee more rain issues in the next couple of days. "We’re good — no rain for at least a week," Berkson said. (Photo: Neil Rathi)

Palo Alto High School seems to have escaped without significant damage after an atmospheric river — a weather event bringing heavy rainstorms and wind — made its way through the Bay Area on Sunday, according to Assistant Principal Jerry Berkson.

Berkson said he came back to a few roof leaks: one in English teacher Kindel Launer’s room in the Media Arts Center; one in the English department offices in the 300s building; and one in the world language department offices in the 300s building. Numerous broken tree branches were littered across campus, some near walkways on the Quad. According to Berkson, there was less damage than he anticipated.

“I was expecting to come back to a huge mess and it really wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be,” Berkson said.
According to precipitation reports recorded Monday morning by the National Weather Service, the 48-hour total rainfall was 2.12 inches in Palo Alto and 3.21 inches at Stanford. Despite the result on campus, some students see the recent rainstorm as beneficial.

According to senior John Miller, the heavy rainfall is good for Californian water reservoirs, compensating for previous lackluster rainy seasons.

“This rainfall is going to increase our snowpack in the Sierras and is going to refill our reservoirs, which really is going to help out many different people and many different cities across California, giving them access to water,” Miller said.

Senior Sofia Antebi said that although the rain caused a lot of inconveniences, there were some upsides too. 

“It’s the first time that we’ve gotten rain in a long time,” Antebi said. “I really like the sound of rain — it’s a nice vibe.”