Will your New Year’s celebration include an umbrella? Sacramento’s forecast for rest of 2024

If you’re enjoying a dry Christmas or Hanukkah in the Sacramento area, be prepared for rain through the remainder of the holidays and into the new year.

Precipitation is expected to return “to the mountains and eventually the valley” Thursday evening, the National Weather Service in Sacramento said.

But how long will it continue to rain? Will it interfere with any New Year’s plans?

Here’s what to know:

What’s the weather forecast in Sacramento for the rest of 2024?

Nathan Rick, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service’s Sacramento office, said the Sacramento area should expect “about a quarter- to half-inch of rainfall through Friday evening.”

“We are expecting the next few waves of precipitation to move through on Thursday and Friday,” Rick said.

Thursday’s forecast, according to the weather service, is likely to rain “mainly before 10 a.m.” with cloudy skies. There is a 60% chance of rain with possibly new precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch. South-southeast winds are expected to blow around 9 mph with gusts as high as 18 mph.

Rain will continue into Thursday night, the forecast said, mainly after 10 p.m. The low temperature is expected to be around 50 degrees Rainfall probability is 90% with expected precipitation amounts between a quarter- and half-inch, the seven-day forecast said.

On Friday, before 10 a.m., a high near 56 degrees is expected, the forecast said, with south-southeast winds around 10 mph and gusts as high as 21 mph.

A 70% chance of rain Friday drops to a 50% chance of rain on Friday night. Cloudy skies and a low of about 54 degrees are expected.

What’s the forecast this weekend?

Rick said there could be a “bit of a break early Saturday morning” from the rain.

According to the weather forecast, there is a 40% chance of rain mainly before 4 p.m. and mostly cloudy skies. The high temperature is near 60 degrees.

The rain is expected to return Saturday night into Sunday morning, mainly after 4 a.m., the forecast said. Skies are expected to be mostly cloudy with temperature lows around 53 degrees.

“The final wave of the series of systems through Sunday,” Rick said. “That’ll bring a better chance for about a ¼ inch to happen in rainfall through Sunday evening.”

The Sunday forecast said it will be mostly cloudy with a high near 59 degrees. Sunday night has partly cloudy skies, a low around 42 degrees and a chance of showers before 10 p.m., the forecast said.

“We’re expecting some gusts to your winds as well,” Rick said. “We can see some gusts up to that 25 mph from the south on Sunday and similar, about 10 to 20 mph an hour gusts on Monday.”

Will my New Year’s celebrations be damp?

Monday will be mostly sunny, with a high near 54 degrees, the forecast said. At night, the temperatures drops to the mid- to high 30s with partly cloudy skies.

Rick said it’ll still be a “bit of a chill.”

Meteorologist Sara Purdue said New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day should be “fairly dry”.

New Year’s Eve on Tuesday should be partly sunny, with a high near 51, the forecast predicts.

“Temperature wise, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day are going to be in the low to mid-50s, with a low temperature in the high 30s,” Purdue said. “Generally speaking, things should be fairly dry. There’s some potential for a little bit of rain later on New Year’s Day. ... New Year’s Eve night should be dry.”

How much rain did Sacramento see in 2024?

So far, in 2024, the Sacramento region has seen 18.75 inches of rain, Purdue said of precipitation in the capital city between Jan. 1 and Dec. 25.

Sacramento has accumulated 6.77 inches of rain during the 2024-25 water year, which started Oct. 1,

In terms of total days of rain this year, Purdue said Sacramento has had 63 days of rain with at least .01 inches of rain measured.

Sacramento has had an above-average number of rain days in 2024. Purdue said the average is 56 days.