The National Weather Service’s Sacramento office has issued a weather alert for Northern California as a significant storm system is set to impact the region, bringing widespread rain, gusty winds, and substantial mountain snowfall.
By Tuesday evening, a noticeable pattern change is expected, marked by the eastward push of upper-level ridging toward the central Plains and the approach of a trough to the coast. Precipitation chances will begin to rise for the northern Sacramento Valley early Wednesday morning, becoming more widespread across interior NorCal by late Wednesday morning.
The storm system is anticipated to bring periods of heaviest precipitation and mountain snowfall from midday Wednesday through Thursday. Rainfall totals are projected to range from 1 to 3 inches in the central and southern Sacramento and northern San Joaquin Valleys, with 3 to 6 inches possible across the northern Sacramento Valley, foothills, and mountains.
Gusty southerly winds are expected to accompany the system from midday Wednesday through midday Thursday, with widespread gusts reaching 40 mph in the Valley and occasional gusts exceeding 50 mph at higher elevations. The warm, moist flow into the region may result in weak instability, leading to a 10 to 20% chance of isolated thunderstorm development on Thursday. Any thunderstorms that form could bring gusty winds, dangerous lightning, brief heavy rainfall, and small accumulating hail.