Light rain on Sunday evening is expected to foreshadow a week of much-needed precipitation across the Bay Area, offering the first hints of relief for a parched landscape mired in drought.
One to 2 inches of rain is expected to fall across the Bay Area over the next week, and even more could fall across the North Bay as a series of storms dives in from the northwest, said Rick Canepa, meteorologist with the National Weather Service. To the east, parts of the Sierra Nevada could see more than a half-foot of snow by Monday morning.
The upcoming storms could equal or surpass average monthly rainfall totals in just a matter of days — a welcome prospect for the region, Canepa said.
“Boy, it sure is nice to see it (rain) coming in like that,” Canepa said. “It should be quite beneficial.”
It all starts Sunday evening, when about 0.1 to 0.25 inches of rain is forecast to fall across the Bay Area, with the highest amounts in Marin and Sonoma counties.
Another round of storms is expected to arrive late Tuesday or Wednesday and continue through the weekend.
While San Jose and Santa Cruz could see an inch of rainfall over the next seven to 10 days, other parts of the Bay Area could see more. The North Bay in particular, including Marin County, could see up to 4 inches of precipitation, Canepa said.
“It really depends on the wind flows and the set-up of the systems coming through,” Canepa said.
San Jose normally receives 0.53 inches of rain in October, while Santa Rosa averages 1.63 inches this month.
The National Weather Service also issued a winter weather advisory through Monday morning for a broad swath of the Sierra Nevada stretching north from Fresno County all the way to the California-Oregon state line.
Three to six inches of snow was expected to fall in parts of the Lake Tahoe area above 7,000 feet, with 1-2 inches of snow forecast for lake-level areas.
Two to 8 inches of snow are forecast for areas of Yosemite National Park above 6,000 feet, and winds could top 70 mph in areas of the park above 7,000 feet.
California’s long drought has lowered reservoir levels and left the area under constant threat of wildfire. From Oct. 1, 2020, through Sept. 30, for example, San Jose received 5.32 inches of precipitation — just 39% of its normal average for that time span. Other communities across the Bay Area, including San Francisco and Santa Rosa, also received less than 40% of their annual average rainfall during that time.
Those conditions could improve this week, Canepa said. “How much it actually does, it remains to be seen.”
Source: www.mercurynews.com