Northern California rains weaken after floodwaters rage in Tuolumne. What about the snow?
This week’s storm has weakened, with lingering showers continuing Thursday morning in Northern California, but rain and hail led to major flooding in parts of Tuolumne County on Wednesday.
National Weather Service observed nearly an inch of precipitation in a single hour Wednesday afternoon near Sonora, leading to a flash flood that gave roads the appearance of raging streams of mud, as seen in videos posted by the sheriff’s office and others.
As of 9 p.m. Wednesday, about a half-dozen roads remained closed while many others have experienced localized flooding but remain open, according to posts by the Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Office. Phone service, including 911 dispatch, was also down in parts of Sonora as of that time.
Hail and thunderstorms were also observed near Sonora.
NWS issued a flood watch Thursday morning, in effect through 7 p.m. for the northern San Joaquin Valley and the foothills east of Sacramento, as another round of rain and thunderstorms could inundate areas near high-running streams.
Just sprinkling in Sacramento
In Sacramento, rain totals look to be falling a bit short of previous NWS forecasts for the week, which predicted between 1 to 2 inches from Tuesday to Thursday.
A total of 0.8 inches fell between Tuesday (0.09 inches) and Wednesday (0.71 inches) in Sacramento, NWS forecaster Karleisa Rogacheski said. The forecast for Thursday predicts light showers totaling less than one-tenth of an inch.
“A low-pressure system is just sort of sitting over the West Coast right now,” Rogacheski said.
A slight chance of similarly light showers will continue through the weekend. Monday is forecast to be sunny with a high of 62. Showers may resume Tuesday before another “beautiful day” of clear skies Wednesday, Rogacheski said.
The storm soaked the Sacramento Valley further north, with 48-hour rain totals as of Wednesday evening exceeding 4 inches in some counties.
In Butte County, Magalia received 3.22 inches and Paradise had 2.18 inches in the 48-hour window ending just before 6 p.m. Even further north in Shasta County, Whiskeytown got 3.77 inches and Redding observed just over 2 inches.
The biggest impact of the storm in the Sacramento area appeared to be during Wednesday morning commute hours, when wet roadways led to many spinouts and minor collisions on local highways, as California Highway Patrol logs showed. The most notable incident was a jackknifed truck that spilled fuel and shut down multiple lanes of eastbound Highway 50 for about five hours.
Gusty winds above 30 mph were also observed Wednesday.
Winter storm warning downgraded
NWS has downgraded its winter storm warning to an advisory in place until 6 p.m. Thursday in the northern Sierra, where about 4 to 8 inches of new snow will fall through the evening.
NWS and Caltrans warn of “moderate” snow impact, including travel delays and likely chain controls near the summit, but are not discouraging travel.
Snow levels will drop from about 5,000 feet Thursday to 4,000 feet Friday as snowfall lightens, with showers continuing Friday. Echo Pass is expected to get between 4 and 6 inches total Thursday and Friday.
This story was originally published March 7, 2019 at 8:03 AM.
