Thousands are still waiting for power to be restored and roads to be cleared across the Northern California mountains after a blizzard pounded the area through the weekend. But there is no rest for the weary, as the next storm is already threatening to dump more snow at the start of the workweek.
As the first winter storm lingers, Blizzard Warnings continue through Sunday with another 1 to 2 feet of snow expected. At midnight, the winter weather alerts swap from Blizzard Warnings to Winter Storm Warnings for the same areas through early Wednesday morning.
“Mountain travel will continue to be extremely dangerous to impossible today (Sunday) and will remain difficult at best through Tuesday night,” NWS Sacramento forecasters wrote in a forecast discussion on Sunday.
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“After a break later tonight (Sunday night) and early Monday, the next system arrives Monday afternoon, bringing additional periods of moderate to heavy mountain snow and gusty winds through early Wednesday,” the NWS Sacramento forecast discussion continued.
Wind gusts up to 60 mph will taper off into Monday morning only to pick up again later Monday. While not expected to create near-blizzard conditions, gusts to 45 mph will blow around the 4-plus feet of snow that fell over the weekend and the additional falling snow. Even the Sacramento Valley could see gusts from 25-35 mph.
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“Lower impacts are anticipated with this system, but with the limited time between systems, overall impacts may be compounded, especially over the mountains,” the NWS continued. “Isolated, light showers are expected in the Valley, with moderate to occasionally heavy snowfall expected over the Sierra from Monday afternoon through Tuesday.”
The next system will be warmer, so while snow levels start off around 2,000 feet, they will rise up to 3,000-4,000 feet into Wednesday. That still means a couple of inches for the foothills, with 1-4 feet in the higher elevations. Even the highest elevations of the coastal ranges could see 1-2 feet of snow.
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Rain is expected from the lower elevations over to the coast. The extreme Northern California coast and Oregon will be in for the heaviest rainfall, with the possibility of another quick 3-plus inches of rain. That is falling on saturated ground, so watch for landslides and ponding on roadways.
As the storm shifts southward down the West Coast, widespread rain will move into Southern California in time for the Wednesday morning commute. Rain amounts aren’t too impressive – on the order of a half-inch to an inch – but it doesn’t take much rain to snarl a commute.
The Golden State dries out a bit and even warms up during the second half of the workweek before the next storm begins to develop off the West Coast during the upcoming weekend.