After nearly four weeks without rain, Californians are finally seeing precipitation return to the forecast. The wet pattern arriving this week comes in pieces, and the Bay Area should see significant rain from the final storm, while temperatures will remain cool.
Here’s how the week shapes up, storm by storm.
Storm 1: Rain for the North Coast only
The first system arrives Monday evening, but its impacts will be limited to California’s far North Coast in Humboldt and Del Norte counties. It’s welcome news for Eureka, where just 0.11 inches of rain has fallen in December, nearly 3.5 inches below normal.
A cold front tied to a distant low pressure system near British Columbia will bring periods of light to moderate rain from Monday afternoon through Tuesday morning to places like Eureka, Crescent City and the Siskiyou Mountains.
Beyond that, this initial storm won’t be felt anywhere else in the state. Without stronger support from a closer in proximity parent low pressure system, the cold front will fall apart early Tuesday morning. As a result, measurable rain will not reach the Bay Area, and most locations south of Mendocino County will stay dry.
Storm 2: Just enough to break the dry streak
The next chance at precipitation arrives quickly on the heels of the first, with rain redeveloping along the North Coast by Tuesday afternoon and evening. This cold front will be stronger and more efficiently tapped into moisture from the Pacific, and will push farther south along the California coast. All of that adds up to a more impactful rainfall event…