Winter storm will pound Northern California with snow and rain. Here’s what you can expect
Read the latest: Wind, rain, snow to intesify in Sacramento, Sierra from cold atmospheric river storm
A powerful winter storm will dump feet of snow in the Sierra Nevada and drop substantial amounts of rain in the Sacramento Valley starting this weekend, forecasts show.
The weather service has a winter storm watch in place Saturday afternoon through Tuesday afternoon, advising that 2 to 5 feet of snow could fall across much of the Sierra range those four days. As much as 6 to 9 feet could fall at elevations above 6,000 feet.
Additionally, 1 to 3 feet of snow is expected farther north, near Mount Shasta, with 5 to 6 feet possible above 5,000 feet.
Strong wind gusts will accompany the snowfall, and the weather service in a bulletin warned mountain travel will be “difficult to impossible.”
The weather service also predicts the Sacramento area could get between 3 and 4 inches of rain between Sunday and Tuesday. The capital region may also see gusts approach 30 mph Sunday, forecasts show.
Daytime high temperatures near Sacramento are expected to range from the upper 40s to low 50s. Overnight lows are predicted in the mid-40s, warming up about from frosty conditions Thursday and Friday.
The incoming storm system is the product of an atmospheric river brewing over the Pacific Ocean, and should bring Northern California its most precipitation since the record-smashing storm from late October. Rain and snowfall have been relatively minimal since then, fueling continued concerns about the state’s ongoing and severe drought.
This story was originally published December 10, 2021 at 8:03 AM with the headline "Winter storm will pound Northern California with snow and rain. Here’s what you can expect."
