Feet of snow will hit Sierra, while rain sweeps into Sacramento Valley. Here’s when
A strong storm inbound for Northern California will peak Thursday, blanketing the mountains with feet of snow that will make travel extremely hazardous if not impossible, according to the latest weather forecasts.
The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm warning for 5 p.m. Wednesday through 11 a.m. Friday, cautioning that 1 to 2 feet of snow are forecast throughout most of the Sierra Nevada range above 5,000 feet, with 3 feet or more possible at higher elevations.
“Mountain travel will be very difficult to IMPOSSIBLE,” the weather service’s Sacramento office tweeted Wednesday. The NWS Reno office said mountain travel would be “treacherous” after Wednesday, encouraging folks to delay any non-essential travel.
Snow Thursday could produce whiteout conditions with no visibility, and will at the very least prompt chain controls along Interstate 80, Highway 50 and other mountain highways.
Heavy Sierra snow in April is not unheard of. Feet of snow fell in Northern California in April 2019, just before drought conditions re-emerged.
Forecasts show lighter snow may begin Wednesday afternoon, falling down to around 6,000 feet, before colder conditions and more intense precipitation kick in early Thursday morning.
The weather service in its warning also advised that snow and gusty winds could knock out power in the mountains and foothills. Gusts along eastern Sierra slopes could reach up to 60 mph, and a wind advisory is in place from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday.
Weather officials issued another wind advisory for the northern Sacramento Valley, including Redding, Chico, Oroville, Marysville and Yuba City, which began at 8 a.m. Wednesday and will last through 5 a.m. Thursday. Sustained south winds could reach 30 mph with gusts up to 45 mph, the weather service said.
The advisory doesn’t include Sacramento, but forecasts show gusts could approach 25 mph Wednesday night and 20 mph Thursday in the capital region.
Rain, then a warm weekend in Sacramento
Sacramento should also see some solid rain totals, following the driest three-month start to a calendar year ever recorded in the city.
Weather service forecasts predict Sacramento could get up to a quarter-inch Wednesday night, between a quarter-inch and half-inch during the day on Thursday, and possibly up to another quarter-inch Thursday night.
There will also be a chance of thunderstorms Thursday afternoon and evening, which would boost those amounts.
The storm will start to wane by Friday, with forecasts showing about a 50% chance of rain during the day in Sacramento, set to clear out by that night.
The city will warm by the weekend, from the mid-60s Friday to forecast highs of 76 degrees Saturday and 80 on Sunday.
Rain and snow may put a small dent in California’s drought conditions, but storms this week and last week won’t be enough to bust it. Statewide snowpack as of Wednesday morning stood at just 30% of normal for the date, according to the Department of Water Resources.
This story was originally published April 20, 2022 at 1:08 PM.
