Sacramento woke up soggy on Wednesday, April 22, 2026, with light rain and a chilly 48°F greeting much of the city and suburbs. Spotty showers and a chance of thunderstorms are on tap through the morning, with pockets of heavy downpours and lightning possible before midday. If you can dodge the worst of it, you will be rewarded with partly sunny skies and a high near 64°F this afternoon.
Most neighborhoods are expected to see only a few tenths of an inch of rain, while foothills and nearby mountains could pick up more. New rainfall amounts of a tenth to a quarter of an inch are possible locally, with valley totals forecast to reach roughly 0.25 to 0.60 inch and higher terrain seeing about 0.5 to 1.5 or more inches. Thunderstorms will be isolated to scattered but can bring brief intense downpours and small hail. Forecast and impact details come from NWS Sacramento.
Thunderstorms And Commute Impacts
Storm cells this morning and into the afternoon may quickly cut visibility and trigger localized flooding on low-lying streets, so drivers should expect slower commutes and build in extra travel time. The main hazards include heavy rain, dangerous cloud-to-ground lightning, small hail, and brief funnels or weak tornadoes in isolated cells. Wind gusts may reach roughly 25 to 35 knots, or about 30 to 40 mph, in the valley and higher elevations, raising the chance of fallen branches and isolated power outages.
Sierra Snow And Travel Alerts
While the valley deals with rain and hail, the Sierra is stacking up more late-season snow. Above about 5,000 feet, the system is expected to produce moderate to heavy mountain snow, with additional accumulations of 6 to 12 inches and up to 18 inches at the highest peaks. Snow levels could briefly drop to roughly 4,500 to 5,500 feet through Wednesday…