SAN FRANCISCO — What has been a wet end to 2022 goes to get even soggier as one other atmospheric river is drenching California through the weekend, bringing a renewed threat of flooding rains and heavy mountain snows.
Regular rains were already falling across the northern fringe of the state Friday morning because the “firehose” of rainfall began to maneuver ashore; its first stop on its eventual trek south through your complete state.
Flood Watches cover thousands and thousands as they stretch across the northern and central California coastal area and inland valleys, including the Bay Area and Sacramento region.
Northern California will proceed take the brunt of the moderate to heavy rain on Friday, with the atmospheric river focusing its wrath onto Central California and the Bay Area late Friday night into Saturday morning, in response to the FOX Forecast Center.
Ponding of water on roadways, rises on small streams and creeks, and burn scar flooding will pose a hazard as rain continues to fall for nearly 36 hours straight.
Regular rains spread south into Southern California on Sunday as Northern California gets a break, with a rainy begin to 2023 within the Los Angeles and San Diego areas.
Storm totals for Friday through Sunday are around 2-4 inches of rain within the coastal lowlands of southwestern Oregon into Northern and Central California, with higher amounts within the hills.
About 3-5 inches of rain are likely within the inland valleys, including Sacramento, by Saturday night, and about 1-2 inches of rain is probably going in Southern California on Sunday. Even the arid areas of Arizona, akin to Phoenix and Tucson, will net around a half-inch to an inch of rain from the storm.
The storm will bring 2-5 feet of snow to the best elevations of the Sierra Nevada, with a couple of foot of snow on the pass levels, bringing potential travel impacts.
California’s rain turns into Rockies snow
The Influence of the atmospheric river in California will spread rain and snow into the Rockies through Sunday, in response to the FOX Forecast Center.
Some travel impacts are likely, especially during morning and evening commutes.
About 1-3 feet of snow is probably going within the mountains, and Winter Storm Warnings have been issued prematurely of this expected snow.
For Salt Lake City, it should stay as a mostly rain event with possibly an inch or two of snow toward the top of the weekend, but heavy snow is predicted within the Wasatch Range.
In Denver, 3 to five inches of snow is probably going, which can make for tricky commutes over the following few days. Already several spin-outs plagued town’s Thursday morning commute, in response to FOX 31 Denver.
Along with snow, avalanches will likely be possible across most mountain ranges heading into the weekend.
A soggy begin to 2023
The calendar yr may change on Saturday night, however the soggy weather pattern along the West stays the identical.
Additional storms are set to roll through California next week — about every 48 hours or so.
Long-range forecast charts suggest much of California could see 4-8 inches of total rainfall from the multiple storms through the top of next week.
Will the atmospheric river make a dent in California’s drought?
Several inches of rain within the forecast this week on top of what’s fallen already this winter is definitely appreciated in a region that has been mired in a years-long drought. But while every drop helps, the region has a protracted solution to go.
“At this time limit, we still have one other 4 or five months in our snow season and in our typical rainy season,” said Andrew Schwartz, lead scientist on the Central Sierra Snow Lab. “That signifies that while we’re sort of scoring the touchdown in the primary quarter of the sport. Without delay, we still have three-quarters left, and there’s so much that may occur.”
Schwartz said last yr’s winter season also began off well with a record-breaking December mountain snowfall. “But January through March sort of shut off, and we didn’t see as much precipitation come through in that period as we might have wanted.”
But even a traditional snowfall season wouldn’t be enough to get the region out of the drought.
“At this time limit, we realistically need about an additional winter’s price of precipitation,” Schwartz said. “So it’s not going to occur in a single yr. At minimum, we’re probably 3 to 4 of above-average before we are able to really speak about getting out of the drought.”
In a mean season, the lab sees 30 feet of snow. An additional season’s price of snow would mean 60 feet in a single yr. That, he said, is a really “high task to attempt to tackle.”
