The latest rains were expected to impact only impact Northern California, giving the south a break until more wet weather arrives by the weekend.Gavin Newsom said Tuesday during a visit to the scenic town of Capitola on the Santa Cruz coast that was hard hit by high surf and flooding creek waters last week.To the south in the central part of the state, a pickup truck driver and a motorcyclist were killed Tuesday in the San Joaquin Valley when a tree that had been struck by lightning fell on them, authorities said.Landslides, sinkholes, floodwaters plague soggy California Natural, manmade factors behind New Zealand's hottest year Police: Skier killed in avalanche on mountain near Las Vegas More than half of California’s 58 counties were declared disaster areas, the governor said.In the San Joaquin Valley, raging waters from Bear Creek flooded parts of the city of Merced and neighboring Planada, a small agricultural community along a highway leading to Yosemite National Park."