Isolated light rain showers in the Valley and mountain snow showers today, then next weak system moves into NorCal Wednesday and Thursday. Dry and quiet weather prevails as we move into the weekend.

Discussion

Radar analysis shows some light rain showers lingering in the Valley and Foothills and some mountain snow showers in the Sierra Nevada. Activity is expected to diminish as we move into the morning hours, with only isolated precipitation expected today as the upper level low in SoCal moves further inland. Little to no rainfall accumulation is expected on the backside of the low pressure. A general 1-3 inches of snowfall for elevations higher than 5000 feet is expected across the Sierra and the Southern Cascades.

Light northerly winds across the Valley are expected today, which will help keep temperatures in the upper 50s for Valley locations. As we move into Wednesday, a weak system will encroach on the area associated with a trough off the PacNW coast.

A weak system will move through interior NorCal on Wednesday and bring rain chances to the area. Valley totals look to be generally below 0.25" inches. Higher amounts of 0.50" in the Foothills and Mountains.
A weak system will move through interior NorCal on Wednesday and bring rain chances to the area. Valley totals look to be generally below 0.25″ inches. Higher amounts of 0.50″ in the Foothills and Mountains.

Light rainfall will begin in the higher elevations in the early hours of Wednesday before chances increase across the Valley. Generally, across the Valley precipitation totals will be below 0.25″ inches through Thursday, with higher amounts in Foothills and Sierra.

A weak system will move into NorCal Wednesday and bring mountain snow showers. Snow levels will be around 4000 feet on Wednesday morning, lowering to 3000 feet Friday AM.
A weak system will move into NorCal Wednesday and bring mountain snow showers. Snow levels will be around 4000 feet on Wednesday morning, lowering to 3000 feet Friday AM.

Light snowfall across the Sierra and the Southern Cascades is also expected. Snow levels on Wednesday morning look to be around 4000 feet and lower to around 3000 feet Thursday. 3-7 inches is expected and current NBM probabilities of greater than 6 inches are around 20-40% for locations along I-80 and HWY-50 for elevations higher than 5000 feet.

On Friday, ensembles depict the trough moving into the Great Basin Region and upper level ridging begins to develop in the Pacific. This will help dry and clear things out for the area, high temperatures look to remain in the mid 50s for the Valley and upper 30s to mid 40s for the higher elevations. We continue to remain dry and warm slightly as we head into the weekend.

Extended Discussion (Saturday through Tuesday)

EPAC upper ridging progged to be dominant synoptic feature through the extended forecast period. Several short waves move through the ridge at times, with model differences in strength and timing, but features appear too weak or track too far north to bring any precip to the CWA.

So for now forecast remains dry Saturday through Tuesday with high temperatures near to slightly above normal.