Current Sacramento rain to be followed by colder weekend storm, possible wet Halloween
The steady, moderate rain overnight and into Friday morning has produced rainfall totals of more than an inch throughout the Sacramento region, unofficially making the month one of the top five wettest Octobers on record.
As of 9 a.m., 1.28 inches of rain had been recorded in 24 hours at the official rainfall gauge for Sacramento near Sacramento State. Other spots did even better: 1.45 inches in Auburn, 1.72 in Lincoln, 1.53 in Loomis, 1.29 in Roseville, 1.42 in Orangevale, 1.37 in Rio Linda, 1.45 in Fair Oaks and 1.29 in Elk Grove. Folsom Lake got 1.18 inches.
The rain and wet pavement played havoc with the morning commute, producing spinouts on surface streets and highways, including an 8:30 a.m. crash on northbound Interstate 5 at the West El Camino offramp that knocked down a light pole.
More rain was expected through Friday morning as the warm storm slowly moves through Northern California. The afternoon is expected to be drier.
But the rainfall won’t end there. A colder low-pressure system is expected to drop down from the Gulf of Alaska, bringing heavier precipitation Saturday night, according to the National Weather Service. The system is expected to bring lower snow levels and significant snowfall to the Sierra Nevada. Travel in the mountains could be difficult.
Looking ahead to Halloween, forecasters say that another Pacific storm is expected to push onto the Northern California coast by Monday afternoon or night. There’s a chance that prime evening trick-or-treat time could be dry.
Sacramento gets an average of 1.05 inches of rainfall in October. The city has received about 3 1/2 inches so far this October. The NWS said that Sacramento has moved from having the 12th wettest October before Thursday night’s rainfall started to the top five as of Friday morning.
The detailed, seven-day forecast from the NWS for the Sacramento region:
Friday: Rain before 11 a.m., then showers likely after 11 a.m. High near 67. Calm wind becoming south-southeast 5 to 7 mph in the afternoon.
Friday night: A 50 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 55. South wind 3 to 7 mph.
Saturday: A 50 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 68. South wind 3 to 8 mph.
Saturday night: Showers likely before 11 p.m., then rain likely after 11 p.m. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 55. South-southeast wind around 7 mph.
Sunday: Showers and possibly a thunderstorm. High near 64. South wind 15 to 17 mph, with gusts as high as 22 mph.
Sunday night: Showers likely, mainly before 11 p.m. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 50.
Monday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 66.
Monday night: A chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 51.
Tuesday: A slight chance of showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 65.
Tuesday night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 47.
Wednesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 65.
Wednesday night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 49.
Thursday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 68.
Bill Lindelof: 916-321-1079, @Lindelofnews
This story was originally published October 28, 2016 at 7:17 AM with the headline "Current Sacramento rain to be followed by colder weekend storm, possible wet Halloween."