The latest atmospheric river arrived Wednesday in the Bay Area with a forecast of strong, damaging winds, chances of thunderstorms, and possible snow in the highest peaks.At 2:17 p.m., the National Weather Service issued a bulletin for a severe thunderstorm warning for San Francisco and the northwestern Peninsula as radar indicated a line of thunderstorms coming ashore from the coast where a special marine warning had been issued the previous hour.

A fast-moving storm system is sweeping into the Bay Area and Central Coast, bringing heavy rain, strong winds and the possibility of thunderstorms, according to the National Weather Service. A wind advisory is in effect from 8 a.

The first in a series of three storms is expected to reach the Bay Area by Wednesday morning. The second storm is expected on Friday and the third on Sunday. Forecasters expect 1 to 2 inches of rain through this weekend in most Bay Area cities, with 4 inches or more in the North Bay hills and Santa Cruz Mountains.