One-two punch of rain, snow along the West Coast
The risk for flooding continues along the West this week as multiple rounds of precipitation target the region, including Southern California.
An atmospheric river swept through California on Feb. 2, bringing heavy rain, high winds and damaging flooding to the region. In Belden, California, rivers swelled up, and vehicles were seen damaged.
A dramatic flip in the weather pattern is sending multiple storms into the West Coast on the heels of a January that was mainly dry across the region. The soggy and snowy conditions will persist throughout the first week of February, extending the risk of flooding.
Two waves of precipitation are impacting the West Coast this week. The first round of rain concluded Tuesday night, followed by another wave persisting into early Friday.
Continuing a stormy pattern in the West, more wet weather will arrive on Feb. 6, this time stretching into Southern California.
The first wave of rain, thanks to an atmospheric river known as the Pineapple Express, began late last week, funneling precipitation into southern Oregon and Northern California. Widespread rainfall totals of 2-4 inches spread across the mountainous terrain into Tuesday night, with some areas nearly reporting a foot of rain.
"The region has already experienced ponding on streets and even some flooding on streams and creeks. The intense rain is forecast to continue to bring the risk of flooding, landslides and travel delays," said AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Heather Zehr.
California cities such as Redding and Santa Rosa received between 4-8 inches of rain from the initial atmospheric river, a month's worth or more of rain for the month of February. The heaviest rain with the first wave of moisture was centered over northwestern California and a portion of the northern Sierra Nevada.
A brief break in the wet weather occurred on Wednesday before the next storm moved into the Pacific coast.
Rounds of rain and mountain snow began to push into western Washington to far Northern California Wednesday afternoon. This second wave will bring much colder air, allowing for more widespread snow.
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"With colder air coming down out of Canada and the Northwest with this storm, snow levels will be lower than during the storm earlier in the week," explained Zehr.
The mountains above 4,000 feet in northwestern California are forecast to start out as snow, with freezing levels expected to fall to 1,000 feet over the Siskiyou Mountains Thursday night, according to Zehr.
"In the northern Sierra, falling snow levels on Thursday will change any rain to snow. Where this precipitation falls as all snow, 1-2 feet of snow will likely accumulate," said Zehr. The snow is likely to impact travel through most of the passes Thursday night and Friday.
The valleys and lower elevations are forecast to be doused with another round of heavy rain into Friday morning.
"With another 1-2" of rain over northern California and 2-4" in the eastern foothills of the Sierra, flood risks will only continue to increase as will the risk for landslides," said Zehr.
Southern California faces multiple rounds of rain
Similarly to the periods of wet weather farther north along the West Coast, Southern California is also in for rounds of rain, AccuWeather meteorologists say.
After the heaviest rain from the first storm in Central California waned by early week, the precipitation shifted southward, bringing some rain to Southern California. Rainfall totals of 0.25-0.50 of an inch are expected in and around the Los Angeles area through Friday morning, with closer to an inch of rain possible for Santa Barbara.
The surge of rain and moisture will help to prevent new fires across the region. However, any steadier rain that falls in the burn scar areas from the recent Los Angeles fires could be dangerous, bringing the risk of mudslides.
A lull in the wet weather is expected across Southern California on Thursday, but another round of rain is forecast at the end of the week.
"The second storm is likely to bring some lighter rain and drizzle for Southern California on Thursday night and Friday," Zehr said.
Drier conditions are expected to set up across California in time for the weekend.
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