Major multi-day storm headed towards Northern California

A significant storm is headed towards Northern California, promising to drop as much as 10 ft (3 meters) of snow on Sierra Nevada mountain peaks and convey much-needed rain all through the area.
Rain was anticipated within the Bay Area, with snowfall within the Sierras beginning Sunday earlier than getting heavier between Monday and Tuesday, in response to forecasters. There may even be a dusting of snow on Bay Area mountaintops.
“If you live in the Sierra, today is the final day to prepare for a multi-day winter storm that will likely be remembered for years to come,” the National Weather Service warned in a forecast issued Saturday.
Another storm system predicted to hit California midweek may ship nearly steady snow, mentioned Scott McGuire, a meteorologist with the climate service’s Reno workplace, which displays an space straddling the Nevada state line.

Downed timber and white-out situations may endanger motorists; in the meantime the Sierra Avalanche Center warned heavy snow and robust winds on prime of a weak snowpack may trigger giant and harmful avalanches.
“If you are traveling through the Sierra, either get ahead of the storm before snowfall begins or wait until it’s over to get up there. It will be increasingly treacherous,” he mentioned.
A low-pressure system from the Pacific Northwest was on observe to hit coastal areas north of San Francisco Saturday evening and drop gentle rain.
In the Pacific Northwest, a winter storm warning was in place in an space together with the ski resort the place an avalanche Saturday killed a 60-year-old man and briefly buried 5 others.
The heaviest rainfall close to San Francisco was anticipated to come back Sunday evening into Monday morning because the storm spreads to the east and south, mentioned Sarah McCorkle, a meteorologist with the climate service’s Bay Area workplace.

Rainfall totals throughout the north may vary between 2-6 inches (5-15 centimeters), and the best quantity was anticipated within the Santa Cruz and Santa Lucia mountain ranges, the place winds may exceed 50 miles per hour (80 kilometers per hour). The rain may trigger minor flooding and rockslides, significantly in areas the place wildfires have burned not too long ago, in response to the forecast.
Pacific Gas & Electric mentioned the storm could trigger energy outages within the Bay Area. The utility mentioned in a information launch that its employees have been clearing vegetation away from energy traces to scale back the prospect of outages.
The quantity of rain is typical for this time of yr, McCorkle mentioned, despite the fact that the final couple of years have been unusually dry. The storm ought to assist relieve dry situations, however gained’t mark an finish to the drought, in response to the US Drought Monitor.
The megadrought fueled by local weather change has enveloped a lot of the West. As California heads into what historically is its wettest time of the yr, 80% of the state is assessed as in excessive or distinctive drought, the 2 worst classes.