Inside Slider to Bring Rain, Mountain Snow to California

By Matt Alto, Meteorologist
Feb 13, 2012; 6:01 AM ET
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The inside slider will bring a plethora of precipitation to California and the Great Basin into Monday.

A storm system called an "inside slider" will deliver some more rain and snow to the Northwest and California early this week.

The term "inside slider" refers to a storm system that slides into California from the northwest with the bulk of its energy becoming focused on the Sierra Nevada and Great Basin.

These storms typically bring very windy conditions to parts of southern California, mainly over the mountains and through the passes.

Along with the winds, significant snows will fall across the Sierra Nevada mountain range with just some clouds and showers across coastal locations. This type of a storm track isn't terribly favorable for heavy rains along the coast.

The inside slider pushes ashore Sunday night, bringing bring widespread rain from the Washington coast down into northern California, including along the I-5 corridor from Seattle down to Sacramento.

As the main piece of energy with this system dives southward through northern California, unsettled weather will persist through the morning across the Northwest with just some leftover rain and snow showers.

Farther to the south, the workweek will get off to a wet start across northern and central California. Rain will be in store for most locations in the Sacramento Valley with rainfall totals generally less than a quarter of an inch.

Snow will fall along the Sierra Nevada range. Snowfall accumulations will generally be between 3 to 6 inches above 4,000 feet in elevation with locally up to a foot above 5,500 feet.

By this evening, the rain and snow will begin to taper off as the storm tracks off to the east.

The rain and snow will be welcome by residents of the Golden State, many who are experiencing abnormally dry to moderate drought conditions found across the state.

Below is a chart showing how much precipitation has fallen in selected cities so far this year. (Values in percent of normal):

City Precipitation Amount Compared to Normal
San Francisco 40%
Sacramento 53%
Fresno 48%
Los Angeles 29%

Unfortunately, the current storm track looks to continue to remain focused farther to the north across the Northwest and western Canada. Therefore, there appears to be few opportunities for modest rain for the remainder of the week across California.

Meteorologists Brian Edwards and Bill Deger contributed to the content of this story.

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