Rain showers, thunderstorms headed to Northern California as weather sees ‘pattern shift’
Rain showers and isolated thunderstorms will roll across parts of Northern California this week as the weather undergoes a “pattern shift,” according to the National Weather Service.
“We are expecting cool temperatures as well as some gusty winds,” said Katrina Hand, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Sacramento office.
“It’s uncommon to see at this point in the summertime,” Hand said.
The unseasonable shift in temperatures will be accompanied by rain in areas north of Interstate 80 and across the San Joaquin Valley, reaching as far south as Stanislaus County, Hand said.
That includes the Sacramento area.
“Isolated to scattered thunderstorms” are also expected in the region, the weather service said, as well as a little snow.
Here’s what is in store.
Thunderstorms, snow forecast for Northern California
The National Weather Service said there’s a 10% to 30% chance for isolated to scattered thunderstorms from late Thursday into Saturday morning.
The best chances for thunderstorms will be on Friday north of Interstate 80 over the Coast mountain range and northern Sacramento Valley into the Sierra Nevada, Hand said.
Threats from thunderstorms include lightning, brief heavy rain, gusty winds and small hail, according to the weather service.
In a post on X, the weather service said that “minor precipitation impacts” are expected in the Central Valley from Thursday into the weekend, with the highest rainfall forecast for Shasta County.
Snow levels could fall to about 7,000 feet by late Friday, the agency said, nothing that “little to no snow accumulation” is expected at the highest elevations.
What’s in the latest weather forecast for Sacramento?
The Sacramento area is in for some “temperature whiplash” over the next few days, the National Weather Service wrote Wednesday in an X post.
After Wednesday, “Temperatures fall to well below normal moving toward the weekend,” the agency wrote on X. “A rapid return to above-normal temperatures arrives by early next week.”
Wednesday will be sunny in Sacramento, with a high temperature near 89 and winds of 5 to 7 mph, the weather service said in its seven-day forecast.
Increasing clouds will bring the temperature down to around 58 degrees, the weather service said.
More sunshine is expected Thursday, which will have a high near 82 and an overnight low around 58. Wind gusts could reach as high as 24 mph.
Wind gusts of 20 to 30 mph are expected across the Valley, the weather service said Wednesday on X, while gusts could reach 40 to 45 mph across the Sierra Nevada.
The “strongest winds” could hit Thursday afternoon and evening, the weather service said.
When will the rain arrive?
There’s a 20% chance of rain showers after 11 am. Friday in the Sacramento area, according to the weather service’s seven-day forecast.
The day will be mostly sunny, with a high near 76 and wind gusts as high as 20 mph.
On Friday night, there’s a 30% chance of showers, mainly after 11 p.m. The low could dip to around 59.
More rain is possible during the day Saturday, when there’s a 30% chance of showers.
Saturday will have a high near 80 and a low around 59, the weather service said.
Hand said the Sacramento area can expect up to a 10th of an inch of rain, as well as some “slick roads.”
Areas north of Interstate 80 will see “decent precipitation,” she said, ranging from a 10th of an inch to half an inch of rain.
The sunshine returns to the Sacramento area in full force on Sunday, which will see a high near 89 and a low around 62.
Monday will be sunny and hot, the weather service said, with a high near 96 and a low around 65.
More sunny, hot weather is expected Tuesday, when Sacramento will see a high near 100.
Will cool temperatures and rain stick around?
After a dip in temperatures over the weekend, the Sacramento area will “ramp back up to hotter and drier conditions pretty quickly,” Hand said.
According to Hand, it’s too early to tell what’s in store for the fall, weatherwise.
“It’s hard to say at this point what we’ll see over the coming months,” she said.
