Cold front to bring Sacramento a few raindrops Friday, below average weekend highs
The cooldown has arrived! As we have been covering this week, a low-pressure trough in the upper atmosphere is set to move in with some unseasonably cool temps for much of the western U.S. If you are in Sacramento or the northern half of the Central Valley, you will soon notice — or maybe you already have — some passing clouds accompanied by a cool breeze. That is a strong cold front that will usher in cooler temps today and for the rest of the weekend. Even a few brief raindrops are possible Friday morning into the early afternoon as the front passes — particularly across Northern California from Redding south to Modesto and east to Nevada. It should be stressed that any rain early to mid-Friday will be brief and sparse, so not everyone will get caught in it.
These passing clouds will continue pushing south through the rest of the Central Valley through the rest of Friday, bringing with them cooler temperatures for the weekend. High temps on Friday will only reach the low 80s for Sacramento and Modesto, with some folks closer to Stockton and the Delta only reaching into the 70s. For reference, this is about 10 degrees below average for this time of June. Meanwhile, much of the foothills and the Sierra will only peak in the 60s and 70s. It doesn’t stop there. Later Friday afternoon, winds gusts of 30-plus mph will push across much of the northern Coast Range, Sierra, and lower Sacramento Valley. The National Weather Service has issued several wind and lake wind advisories for the Sierra and Lake Tahoe for Friday amid these strong winds rushing in behind the cold front.
Saturday is colder still, warm-up begins Sunday
On Saturday, high temps will only reach the mid to upper 70s for much of the Central Valley between Sacramento and Modesto amid a few more morning clouds. Fresno will only rise to the low 80s. Uphill in the Sierra, temps max out in the 50s for locations including Lake Tahoe and Bear Valley. You can generally expect another rather breezy afternoon as this cooler air mass continues to blow in.
Our coldest temps for this period arrive on Sunday morning, with widespread 50s for the entirety of the Central Valley and 40s for elevated locations in the Coast Ranges. In the Sierra — including Lake Tahoe — temps in the 30s will feel like a brief foray with autumn. There is even a remote possibility for a few flurries in the highest peaks of the Sierra on Saturday and Sunday nights with temps briefly below freezing.
Our recovery begins Sunday with temps back in the 80s for the Central Valley. A north breeze between Sunday and Monday is being monitored for an elevated wildfire risk, especially in the northern Sacramento Valley. A red flag warning is a possibility through the weekend.
Next week — 90s return but not looking to hang around
Our low-pressure trough will slowly fade into next week and allow temps to slowly recover to normals around the low 90s for Sacramento and the upper 90s for Fresno.
That may not last long — a massive “heat dome” is set to develop across the southeastern U.S. to start July. Given its intensity and proximity half-way across the continent, this dominating dome won’t allow other heat waves to develop where it is not. But it will allow for a few more of these cool-downs to visit the Pacific Coast. Bottom line, the intense summer heat of the Central Valley won’t be so bad through the rest of June and into our first week of July.
