Rainy morning leads to spinouts, slow traffic in Sacramento. What will the weekend bring?
Thursday is off to a rainy start in Sacramento, with a number of weather-related traffic incidents reported during early #commute hours.
The California Highway Patrol has reported a number of spinouts on local freeway and a few instances of roadway flooding, including some reports of vehicles hydroplaning on the ramp from westbound Highway 50 to northbound Interstate 5. Drivers are encouraged to allow extra commute time and use caution.
A multi-vehicle crash blocked gridlocked westbound Highway 50, blocking all lanes near Stockton Boulevard before being cleared by about 5 a.m., according to the CHP incident log.
Most of the rain should exit the capital region by about noon, according to National Weather Service forecasts and radar images, with approximately a quarter-inch expected to fall throughout most of the Sacramento Valley by the end of the morning. The storm track is moving into interior Northern California from the northwest.
Latest visible satellite loop for West Coast
It hasn’t been quite as cold as some recent mornings. Temperatures in Sacramento were up to the mid-40s as of 6:30 a.m., and the city should get sunny skies and a high near 54 degrees in the afternoon.
Through the weekend, the NWS predicts high temperatures in the mid-50s, chilly lows between the 30s and low 40s, and chances of light rain Friday night into Saturday morning. Dense, patchy fog is also expected Thursday night through Friday morning across portions of the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys.
Latest doppler radar loop for Northern California
More snow ahead in the Sierra
A winter weather advisory is in place through noon Thursday for the northern Sierra Nevada mountain range, with the NWS anticipating between 4 and 8 inches of snow at elevations above 3,500 feet, with as much as a foot possible at higher elevations.
Caltrans advises that Interstate 80 chain controls have been off-and-on since midday Wednesday.
The NWS Reno office said in a tweet that snowfall should subside by Friday before storms bring more snow and gusty winds this weekend and early next week, but forecasters have not yet estimated snowfall totals for either of those systems.
This story was originally published January 9, 2020 at 7:04 AM.
