More drenching rain and heavy mountain snow take aim at Pacific Coast states
After the recent series of storms this past week, the Pacific still has more storms to deliver. The region will remain in active storm mode for much of the remainder of the month, and its moisture will lead to more rounds of low elevation rain and mountain snow from Washington to Northern California into the start of the new week.
"As many as three storms and their associated ripples of moisture will push in from the Pacific and across the Northwest into Monday," AccuWeather Meteorologist Gwendolyn Fieweger said.
The streams of moisture will be focused across Washington, Oregon and Northern California.
"Rain will reach as far to the south as the portions of the North Bay around San Francisco initially, but it will spread farther south late Sunday and Monday with the passage of a cold front," Fieweger said.
Into Monday, a general 1-2 inches of rain will fall from Northern California to western Washington. A zone where 2-4 inches is more likely will extend from the northwestern corner of California through western Washington and along some of the lower west-facing slopes of the Washington Cascades and Olympics. Local amounts to near 6 inches are possible in these areas over the four-day stretch.
Enough rain will fall to slow travel and, in more extreme cases, flash flooding will occur. Landslides are also possible in steep terrain, while mudslides will most likely, but not limited to, recent burn scar locations.
Up to a few inches of snow can fall on portions of the Washington Cascades into early Saturday, including at pass level.Have the app? Unlock AccuWeather Alerts™ with Premium+
While 3-6 inches of snow is likely to fall on the southern Oregon Cascades, 6-12 inches is likely over the higher terrain of the Northern California Siskiyous, with 1-2 feet on the higher elevations of the northern Oregon Cascades and 2-3 feet on the high country of the northern Sierra Nevada, AccuWeather Storm Warning Meteorologist Kyle Lavery said.
Multiple rounds of snow will affect Donner Pass, California, along Interstate 80 into early next week. Travel conditions for most of Saturday should be favorable. However, periods of heavy snow with slippery roads and road closures may occur from Sunday to Monday.
Winds will get strong enough, mainly from Sunday to Monday, over the higher terrain in the Oregon Cascades, California Siskiyous and the northern Sierra Nevada to cause considerable blowing snow and reduced visibility that creates blizzard conditions.
One round of strong winds with gusts near 60 mph can occur along the Oregon coast from late Friday night to Saturday and then on Sunday along part of the Northern California coast.
Very little to no rain and mountain snow will reach Southern California. Some rain and snow showers may fall in the mountains north of Los Angeles by Monday, but any shower activity in the Los Angeles basin is likely to be very spotty.
No rain is foreseen for San Diego, which has already bagged its wettest month of the rainy season that began in early October. There has been 2 to 3 inches of rain around the city, compared to a historical average of about three-quarters of an inch for the entire month.
Downtown Los Angeles has done okay this month compared to most other months this winter, with about 2 inches of rain falling thus far, compared to a historical average of 1.2 inches for all of March.
More rain is needed over much of Southern California and the Southwest, for that matter, due to building drought conditions since the start of the rainy season this past autumn.
Rainfall has been a little lean in Central California this month so far. As of Friday morning, San Francisco has received less than an inch of rain compared to a historical average for March of 2.73 inches. Sacramento, California, has picked up 0.65 of an inch, compared to a monthly average of 2.68 inches.
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