Sierra snow reported overnight as Northern California cools down. Is more to come?
A few inches of snow fell late Thursday and early Friday in the Sierra Nevada mountains, as Northern California sees winter-like temperatures in early October.
The National Weather Service said as of Friday morning that high elevations have seen between 1 and 3 inches of snowfall.
Several more inches of snow are possible Friday at elevations above 8,000 feet, the NWS Reno office said in a bulletin.
The weather service predicts the South Lake Tahoe area will see clear skies Saturday and Sunday, with a chance of snow showers returning Monday.
Snow levels could fall to about 5,000 feet Monday and Tuesday, as a colder system passes through, though snow showers are expected to be light. About a half-inch of new snow could fall Monday near South Lake Tahoe, forecasts show, with a nighttime low of 25 degrees.
Meanwhile, the weather service has a fire weather watch in place Monday and Tuesday for much of the Sacramento Valley and parts of the Bay Area due to gusty winds, ranging from 30 mph to 40 mph. A fire weather watch is a step below a red flag warning, but the advisory could be upgraded before Monday.
High temperatures in Sacramento are expected to remain in the 70s this weekend and early next week, with overnight lows near 50 degrees, as the breezy and gusty winds arrive.
Snow on a wildfire
Snow also fell at the command center for the Caldor Fire burning near the Lake Tahoe Basin, according to the incident management team’s meteorologist.
U.S. Forest Service officials in a morning update said a “dusting of snow” is possible Friday, but due to “extreme/exceptional drought conditions, this moisture will slow the surface spread of the fire (but) will do little to extinguish the fire.”
The wildfire is 93% contained, and all evacuation warnings and orders have been lifted, but more than 1,100 firefighters remain assigned to the 221,775-acre blaze, working to complete containment.
This story was originally published October 8, 2021 at 9:13 AM.
