Extended break from rain, snow in California may follow two storms early next week
Some rain and pass-level snow aiming at California from Sunday to Monday could be the last significant storm through the middle of March.
Chillier and drier air will settle southward along the Pacific coast over the next few days.
Through Saturday, only spotty rain will fall along the coast from Washington to Oregon and Northern California as one storm system dives southward but mainly offshore over the Pacific Ocean.
As colder air invades this storm, some wet snow will fall around Seattle and Portland, Oregon, for a time late Saturday night into Sunday morning.
During Sunday, this storm will turn inland over California. A second storm is likely to follow on Monday.
"At this time, we expect enough rain to fall along the coast and over the interior valleys with snow in the mountains to cause minor travel disruptions over much of California from Sunday to Monday," according to AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Brett Anderson.
Only if the storms merge would rain and snow be heavy enough to renew widespread stream flooding and mudslides. That appears unlikely at this point.
"Chances are the Sunday to Monday storms will not have time to grab a great deal of moisture and cause rain and snow for very long," Anderson said. "So the storms will not be nearly as bad in terms of flooding as the past two storms."
Snow levels, however, will be much lower with the storms early next week as opposed to the storm from this past week.
"Freezing levels may lower enough to bring snow to the passes throughout California," Anderson said.
A few inches of snow may slick roadways in the Sierra Nevada with perhaps slippery conditions over the Grapevine.
Storm chaser, Reed Timmer, recorded this stunning video of a huge wall of snow towering over road ways near Lake Tahoe. The snowfall total is reported at 52 inches for Donner Summit.
A few episodes of rain are likely in the Los Angeles area from Saturday night to Monday.
However, a break in the rain is likely on Sunday afternoon and evening in Hollywood, California, for Academy Awards red carpet activities.
Could the storm early next week be the last for the winter season?
Once the storm departs California on Tuesday, there may be an extended period of dry weather for much of the state.
Beyond early next week, while it is too early to say with certainty that the storms have ended for the season in California, it does appear that the longer separation between storms will carry forward well into March.
"It is possible that much of California may receive little or no precipitation during the first couple weeks of March," according to AccuWeather Lead-Long Range Meteorologist Paul Pastelok.
On average, precipitation trends downward significantly during March and April in California with the wettest months of the year December, January and February in the rear-view mirror.
Warmer weather and sunshine anticipated for the state during early March will trigger some melting snow at intermediate elevations in the Sierra Nevada.
Frequent storms this winter have all but erased the drought over California.
As of the middle of this week, less than 5 percent of the state remains in severe drought, compared to more than 80 percent of the state one year earlier.
Report a Typo
