Rain returns to Sacramento after 4-month absence. Expect slippery roads, NWS warns

It’s official: Rain has returned to Sacramento.

Light showers began drizzling over downtown Sacramento by about 6 a.m. Tuesday.

As National Weather Service meteorologist Tom Dang warned a day earlier, motorists should drive cautiously and allow extra time for their commute, as the first rain of the season tends to bring about slippery road conditions.

The precipitation has been brought on by a low-pressure system moving in from the Pacific starting Monday, with the weather impacts lasting in Northern California through about Wednesday, NWS forecasts show.

Forecasts continue to predict high temperatures in the mid-to-high 70s. Scattered thunderstorms are possible Wednesday in Sacramento and the foothills.

NWS radar images predict up to a quarter-inch of rainfall for downtown Sacramento from Tuesday to Thursday, up to a half-inch in the Sacramento Valley and as much as an inch near Lake Tahoe.

The last rain in Sacramento was recorded May 25; cities north of the capital like Marsyville and Redding, as well as cities closer to central California like Stockton and Modesto, had their last rain either May 25 or May 26.