Multiple Pacific storms to bring taste of winter from California to Montana
Some of the most substantial low-elevation rain and mountain snow since early last spring will fall on parts of the western United States this weekend to early next week.
AccuWeather’s Bernie Rayno and Joe Lundberg look ahead to next week’s weather. As the weekend storm moves out of the Northeast, cooler and more settled conditions will follow. Meanwhile, the Southwest is expected to remain damp and chilly.
Storms pushing inland from the Pacific will deliver the most significant rain and mountain snow to parts of the western United States since early last spring in the coming days.
The storms will create travel disruptions, with mainly wet highways in the lower elevations and snowy, slippery conditions over the highest elevations. The greatest risk of flash flooding will be over the interior Southwest.
Storm to bring rain in Northwest this weekend
One storm began to affect the coastal Northwest on Friday, with mostly rain from western Washington to northwestern California.
For most of the coastal and interior locations of the Northwest, this storm will not be a blockbuster. However, it will be one of the most widespread rain-producing storms so far this fall and will linger into Sunday.
Snow for northern Rockies, blizzard for south-central Canada
Several inches of snow will fall from the storm farther inland, covering portions of the Rockies in Montana and Wyoming. Some of the snow will melt on the roads over the higher elevations and passes. In grassy and wooded areas, though, several inches are forecast to pile up from Saturday night to Monday.
A pocket of 6-12 inches of snow will fall on the Tetons in northwest Wyoming, including around Yellowstone National Park.
Farther to the Northeast, the storm will gain a boost and strengthen over portions of southern Saskatchewan and west-central Manitoba. In part of this zone, heavy snow will fall and cause blizzard conditions and hazardous travel from Sunday to Monday.
Sierra Nevada snowstorm brewing; rain for California coast, valleys
A new storm will roll in from the Pacific but move farther south early next week. This will follow tropical moisture from former Tropical Storm Priscilla. The same storm will help funnel moisture from Tropical Storm Raymond into the Southwest from Sunday to early Tuesday.
The second Pacific storm will bring substantial low-elevation rain and mountain snow to much of California from Monday to Tuesday.
At the height of the storm, as winds blow in from the Pacific Ocean, temperatures will trend downward from the 70s to the 60s Fahrenheit in many low elevations in Northern California and the immediate Southern California coast early next week.
Several inches of slushy snow may fall on Donner Pass, California, from Monday night to Tuesday. Above the passes in the Sierra Nevada, the Siskiyou and Oregon Cascades, a foot or more of snow may pile up.
San Francisco has received only 0.36 of an inch of rain since April 2. This storm could easily surpass that entire amount. Some showers are forecast to reach as far south as Los Angeles by Tuesday and San Diego later Tuesday night before the bulk of the storm shifts inland at midweek.
The storm may be strong enough to bring gusty winds along the immediate coast and over the mountains in California. Heavy seas offshore may result in rough surf along the coastline.
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