When will relief arrive for storm-weary California residents?
As an area of high pressure off the coast of California continues to strengthen, direr weather will work into storm-weary California.
All eyes have been on the West Coast in recent weeks as round after round of rain and snow pummeled the region. Now, AccuWeather meteorologists say that a change in the weather pattern will bring the return of dry weather.
The latest round of wet weather in the form of rain and snow struck the West Coast on Sunday and added more moisture to the already drenched region.
Stormy weather continued across California and the Pacific Coast states in general on Monday and Tuesday. In Acampo, California, more than 60 residents were forced to evacuate a mobile home park Tuesday due to flooding, with staff from the San Joaquin Regional Transit District working to evacuate the residents. In Fremont, California, passengers had to evacuate a train that was stopped Tuesday afternoon, due to a mudslide at Niles Canyon.
As the week progresses, the frequency of storms will slow, giving California residents some breathing room between each round of wet weather. San Diego received a bit of rain on Tuesday while the rest of California remained dry. Areas like Sacramento and Fresno can each expect at least 24 to 36 hours of dry conditions before the next round of wet weather moves in.
The drying trend that started on Tuesday for Central and Northern California could also be the beginning of a much longer dry stretch for southern portions of the state. Following rain Tuesday in SoCal, dry weather could be in store for cities like San Diego and Los Angeles through the end of January.
For the rest of California and the Pacific Northwest, another storm is set to strike for the middle of the week.
The storm will first bring rain and snow to the Oregon and Washington coasts before tracking southeastward through Oregon and into Nevada.
"This round of potential rain is not expected to be nearly as robust as what we have dealt with in the past month or so, but it could lead to some minor travel issues due to the wet roads in the valleys and snow in the passes," explained Buckingham.
This round of wet weather is not expected to be any more extravagant than the last. In fact, the atmospheric river that helped to make previous storms so potent will not enhance these rounds of rain and snow.
However, just the addition of more rain and snow will continue the risk for flooding, mudslides and landslides. The recent onslaught of storms, which began on New Year's Eve, has left the ground unable to handle any more rain without immediate runoff and the potential for the topsoil on hillsides to let loose.
As the end of the week approaches, a northward shift in the jet stream will allow for drier conditions to get underway in Southern California and expand across much of the West Coast.
A strengthening area of high pressure off the Pacific Coast will help block any potent storms from hitting the region. The dry spell, which is expected to last for most parts of the West into late in the week, is likely to end the tumultuous pattern of excessive rain and snow.
Going forward, AccuWeather long-range meteorologists expect the weather pattern to go back to this more normal cadence through at least the end of January.
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