Californians should dust off their umbrellas and prepare for rain showers to arrive next week, according to the latest weather forecast.
Rain is expected to arrive beginning Sunday in most areas of the state, and there is a good chance of snow in Mammoth the week before Santa Claus makes his rounds.
The San Francisco Bay Area and nearby coastal communities could get two to four inches of precipitation throughout next week as the wet weather rolls in, according to the National Weather Service.
“I think that people should be prepared for unsettled weather to return to the Bay Area in general, but there are no major flooding concerns with this system as it’s coming in a series, with one wave after another,” Roger Gass, a meteorologist with the weather service out of in Monterey, California, told The Epoch Times. “So, that should reduce the flooding potential.”
Multiple rounds of rain are headed to the Golden State from the Gulf of Alaska, he said. The first storm should reach the coast by Sunday morning, followed by a series of storms that should taper off by Thursday or Friday.
In the Los Angeles region, residents should prepare to start seeing rain Sunday night or early Monday, but it should only bring about one-quarter of an inch, the weather service’s Oxnard office reported.
“It’s not going to be particularly heavy,” Meteorologist Mike Wofford of the Oxnard office told The Epoch Times. “We do have a few other storms headed our way after that, through the end of the year.”
A second system could move into the Los Angeles area Wednesday through Thursday which looks stronger, he added. Some snow could fall in the Big Bear Lake area during the second storm, especially above 6,000 feet, according to Mr. Wofford.
The town of Mammoth, located in eastern California and about 170 miles south of Reno, Nevada, has a 70 to 80 percent chance of seeing snow from Monday through Wednesday next week because of its higher-altitude location at 8,000 feet, according to Chris Smallcomb, a meteorologist with the weather service in Reno.
“That area has a bit more confidence of seeing heavy snow potential,” Mr. Smallcomb told The Epoch Times.
The Lake Tahoe area, though, is slightly lower in altitude at 6,200 feet and could only see rain, he added, but that could change as the storms arrive.
“Anyone traveling up to the Lake Tahoe area should be ready for potential winter weather,” Mr. Smallcomb said.
“It has been a very dry start to the wet season in California, unlike last winter,” AccuWeather Chief On-Air Meteorologist Bernie Rayno said Wednesday.
Last year, a November storm brought 1 to 2 inches of rain to San Francisco and Los Angeles. The season progressed in December when nearly 10 inches of rain doused the San Francisco Bay Area and nearly 3 inches drenched Los Angeles, according to AccuWeather.
Forecasters are unsure how this year’s El Niño will ultimately affect California.
“The upcoming pattern change for California will most likely be gradual, with some opportunities for rain and mountain snow for the second half of December,” AccuWeather reported Wednesday. “However, the pattern may become more intense in the coming weeks and months, depending on El Niño and other factors, such as surrounding sea surface temperatures in the Pacific.”
