Chico floods in Tuesday night ‘supercell.’ Sacramento gets dry Wednesday before storm
A sudden downpour Tuesday night flooded Chico streets and buildings at Chico State, with the National Weather Service keeping a flood warning in place for the city until 8:30 a.m. Wednesday.
Photos and videos posted to social media showed localized flash flooding Tuesday night that immobilized vehicles and led some to canoe through residential streets.
The flooding came as a late afternoon tornado warning in Butte County was allowed to expire without any tornado observed, but NWS continued to warn of thunderstorms that could drop heavy rains.
Northern California meteorologists on Twitter and the Los Angeles Times called it a possible “supercell” weather system, with radar showing that between 3 and 5 inches of rain fell throughout the Chico area in two hours.
A dorm building at Chico State lost power, with the university later reporting that “some buildings experienced minor flooding” but that no significant damage was observed. Chico State said in tweets just before 1 a.m. that the campus will be open as normal Wednesday, but encouraged those unable to reach campus for work or school due to the conditions to notify their professors or supervisors.
By contrast, Sacramento started Wednesday dry before another storm system is expected to bring moderate rain to the valley and heavy snow to the Sierra starting Thursday. Absent another thunderstorm event, Chico is forecast for 1 to 2 additional inches Thursday through Saturday.
Sierra snow
More than a foot of snow is expected to fall throughout most of the Sierra range between Thursday and Saturday, according to the latest NWS forecast. As much as 2 to 3 feet will fall locally at higher elevations.
NWS and Caltrans warn of hazardous mountain travel starting Friday, with chain controls likely near summit passes through at least Saturday.
Snow levels will drop from 6,500 feet Thursday to about 6,000 feet Friday and Saturday, NWS says. Heavy winds could crate whiteout conditions at those elevations.
No chain controls were in place on mountain highways as of Wednesday morning, with the Tahoe area clear of snowy weather to start the day.
Moderate rain coming to Sacramento
The latest radar reading shows Sacramento should get between a half-inch and an inch of rain between Thursday and Saturday.
The heaviest rains are expected Friday. Thunderstorms are not anticipated, but gusty winds as high as 18 mph are also in Friday’s forecast.
Daytime temperatures will remain in the 60s despite the wet weather. Sunday could see a high of 73 degrees with a possibility of lingering showers, the current forecast shows. Overnight lows will hover in the low 50s in most valley spots.
Most of the Sacramento area saw a bit more than a quarter-inch of rain in the 24 hours between 8 a.m Tuesday and Wednesday.
