A high-powered storm is set to bring wicked gusts of wind and heavy rain to the Bay Area, as well as treacherous amounts of snowfall in the Sierra Nevada Mountains over the weekend.
The “Dragon Storm” — as it’s been christened by Lake Tahoe snow forecaster Bryan Allegretto, who spotted the mythical creature in the outlines of the weather system on radar images — is expected to bring large amounts of precipitation to the Sierra Nevada Mountain range, all the way up to Mount Shasta and the northwest corner of the state, as well as the coast line into Southern California.
The dragon storm is still on track. Heavy snow & strong winds for Saturday. A little less intense but still snowing Sunday into Sunday night. Ending by Monday morning. Estimates are still for 1.5-3 feet at lake level & 2-5 feet from east to west on the mountains by MONDAY morning pic.twitter.com/s2StdtveHB
— Tahoe Weather (@TahoeWeather) December 9, 2022
“It’s raining hard at the coast and in the mountains, and what that was doing was showing heavy, dark colored precipitation on the map along the coast and heavy along the mountains and then kind of lighter in the middle in the Central Valley kind of down by Fresno,” Allegretto said, explaining how he gave the storm its moniker. “It was making the shape of a dragon’s head.”
The fabled wrath of the dragon may be a good match for the snow storm headed to Lake Tahoe and the Sierra Nevada mountains Saturday. Those looking to escape Bay Area rain should look elsewhere this weekend, as mountain travel in the region will be “dangerous to near impossible,” according to California Highway Patrol.
‼️UPDATE ‼️
Chain control has been dropped on I-80 over Donner Summit… for now. We are expecting a bigger storm starting early tomorrow morning through Monday morning. Dangerous to near impossible mountain travel is expected this weekend, so be PREPARED! pic.twitter.com/rUReGI28Jh
— CHP Truckee (@CHP_Truckee) December 9, 2022
A National Weather Service Winter Storm Warning will go into effect Saturday morning at 4 a.m., lasting until 4 a.m. Monday for areas above 3,500 feet in elevation. Total snow accumulations could be as high as five feet on the mountains, with wind gusts reaching nearly 100 miles per hour on peaks.
“It’s just so much snow so fast,” Allegretto said. “It’ll be snowing 1-3 inches (on the mountains) per hour Saturday night. … Travel won’t be fun until Monday afternoon.”
Near whiteout conditions could cause road closures and chain controls, according to the NWS.
South Lake Tahoe is forecast for six to 10 inches of new snow accumulation on Saturday night alone.
“It’s the perfect set-up just for huge amounts of snow, even down at lake level,” Allegretto said.
Ski resorts could see closures Saturday, Allegretto says. With travel limited and wind gusts nearing triple digits, ski lifts could be too dangerous to operate, even on wind-protected mountains.
“It’s going to be windy and cold and miserable and snowing really hard, and that snow is going to be slapping you in the face,” he said. “It’s not going to be very enjoyable no matter where you go. I’m sure some mountains will have some sort of (trails) open down low, but some of them will close. You’ll probably have delayed openings on Sunday.”
Meanwhile in the Bay Area, winds won’t quite reach Sierra levels, but it’ll be rainy and gusty in its own right.
National Weather Service meteorologist Roger Gass explained that a weather band forming just after sunrise Saturday in the North Bay was set to be pushed south by strong winds, creating a wet weekend across the Bay Area.
Update: A cold front will bring strong southerly winds & widespread rain to the area Friday night through Saturday. Lingering showers & thunderstorms expected Saturday afternoon through Sunday. Stay up to date with the latest information through the weekend! #CAwx #BayAreaWX pic.twitter.com/RQwjOnPlHU
— NWS Bay Area 🌉 (@NWSBayArea) December 9, 2022
Rain totals weren’t expected to be too far off from last weekend’s, however. NWS forecasts Friday showed between three-quarters of an inch and one inch of rain headed to most urban parts of the Bay Area on Saturday. San Jose was predicted for between one-half and three-quarters of an inch.
Showers could last into Sunday, Gass said, but it “won’t be an all-day raining event.” NWS forecasts showed between one-tenth and one-quarter of an inch of new precipitation in urban Bay Area communities on Sunday. While the weekend’s rain totals aren’t anything out of the ordinary, some minor floods are possible, according to Gass.
“It’s going to be that on-again, off-again precipitation on Sunday and then dry out by Monday,” Gass said. “The rainfall amounts (over the weekend) aren’t anything historic by any stretch of the imagination, but because we are starting to see the saturating flows, we will have our rapid rises on creeks and the minor urban flooding that we will typically see on our winter season.”
However, the wind headed to the Bay Area will be “more widespread and stronger” than previous storms this season, Gass said.
The NWS has the Bay Area on Wind Advisory and Gale Watch from 2 a.m. until 3 p.m. Saturday. Winds in the urban centers were expected to blow between 15-25 mph with gusts reaching 35-45 mph.
Rain is on the way today and again Saturday.
But Sat. will also be Windy. A Gale Watch is out over the ocean, but a Wind Advisory has now been issued for the land area for gusts 35-45 mph. It begins at Midnight in the North Bay, expires at 6 PM around the Monterey Bay.#CAwx pic.twitter.com/LN7jqXTEzR
— NWS Bay Area 🌉 (@NWSBayArea) December 8, 2022
“Overall it’s looking to be a pretty good cold front that pushes through strong winds that could be a concern,” Gass said. “The likelihood of trees coming down or branches of dead trees being snapped off will be an issue.”
The wind conditions prompted warnings from Pacific Gas and Electric Company, which said it’s preparing to respond to potential power outages within its service areas.
“We are actively tracking the weather around the clock and supporting our local Electric Operations crews who are at the ready to respond to outage activity as quickly as possible,” said Evan Duffey, a PG&E meteorologist. “We urge customers to pay close attention to the weather and keep their situational awareness high to effectively respond to weather-related emergencies, as well as having an emergency plan in place to prepare for outages.”
Temperatures across the Bay Area were expected in the high 50s Saturday, dropping to low 40s overnight in the South and East Bays, while remaining a tad warmer on the Peninsula, with temperatures remaining in the mid 40s.
Source: www.mercurynews.com