Late-April storm to bring drenching downpours, mountain snow to California
A storm near the tail end of the rainy season is heading for California with areas of showers, thunderstorms and even mountain snow to end this week.
AccuWeather California Expert Ken Clark reports the Sierra Nevada have received significant snowfall, which is expected to provide a surplus of water to reservoirs across the Golden State.
While Pacific storms with impacts on California tend to become less frequent during the middle of spring, AccuWeather meteorologists expect some rain and snow to fall on the Golden State and surrounding areas late this week and into this weekend.
A storm will pivot slowly onshore through Saturday. As it approaches, it will create a flow of cooler and more moist air over the Southwest. Rain broke out over some of Northern California's mountains and coastal areas on Friday and will continue to expand and spread southward into Saturday.
Showers are projected to ramp up around San Francisco and continue into Saturday.
As the storm pushes inland, showers will become more common over the rest of California and in parts of the interior Southwest from Saturday to Sunday.
This will likely be the most significant rain of the month for Los Angeles and many other locations in Southern California. "Los Angeles will likely pick up a few hundredths to 0.15 of an inch of rain," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Chad Merrill said. "Los Angeles has only recorded a trace of rainfall this month, and that was April 3." The historical average rainfall for April in L.A. is 0.60 of an inch, as it is near the tail end of the rainy season.
The most likely time for a shower or thunderstorm in Los Angeles will be on Saturday. For San Diego, the chances are lower, but they will be greatest during Saturday afternoon and evening. Any thunderstorm that occurs can bring brief gusty winds and even hail, along with the threat of lightning strikes for those outdoors.
Because the storm will pull in cooler air from the Pacific and manufacture even cooler air in place, freezing levels will dip over the mountains.
"In the central Sierra Nevada, snow levels will dip to around 5,500 feet for a time this weekend," Merrill said. "That's low enough for snow to fall and possibly stick over Donner Pass, California, along Interstate 80."
Motorists should be prepared for wintry travel over the higher terrain of the Sierra Nevada and slick conditions caused by the combination of rain and oil residue on the roads.
Where downpours linger, there can be ponding on some of the roads, although significant flash flooding does not appear to be likely with this storm.
Cool conditions will linger over California and spread over more of the southwest later this weekend to early next week.
Looking ahead, the chances of additional storms bringing soaking rain to Southern California will decrease substantially as they typically do during May.
However, AccuWeather's team of long-range forecasters, headed by Expert Meteorologist Paul Pastelok, believes that California can have one more opportunity for rain during the first week of May.
Beyond that, during the summertime, an active North American monsoon is anticipated, which could be bolstered by any tropical storm or hurricane that wanders into northwestern Mexico or the Gulf of California, AccuWeather's Lead Hurricane Expert Alex DaSilva said.
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