LAKE COUNTY >> Disappointed that scattered snowflakes have dissolved before hitting the ground? That may change in the coming days as the National Weather Service predicts heavy rain and snow in most areas of the county.
The NWS in Sacramento released a winter storm warning on Wednesday morning, advising that travel into mountainous and off-road areas in Lake County are “highly discouraged.” According to the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, up to a foot of snow may blanket Cobb Mountain before the system passes. The high elevations around Lake Pillsbury may see almost three feet.
The warning set to last until 10 p.m. Saturday.
Showers were expected to begin around press time on Wednesday,with possible snow showers overnight. If forecasts are correct, that means many in Lake County woke up to some white stuff and ice this morning.
In a warning sent out by the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, the storm system is expected to dump an estimated 1-2 inches of snow at lake level and in the Middletown area. Up to 6 inches of snowfall is expected in the Blue Lakes before the storm departs, the NWS said.
Authorities warned that “travel will be very difficult to impossible, especially [today].” Besides snowfall, strong winds could bring “whiteout and blizzard conditions at times,” the weather service added.
The LCSO recommends to prepare for “the changing conditions and expect roadways to be slippery.” Additionally, the NWS suggests that if travel is necessary, one should keep an extra flashlight and food and water in vehicles.
Around Northern California, the forecast is similar. The main event is expected during the Thursday morning Bay Area commute, according to Charles Bell, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Monterey.
“When the front comes through, we could see moderate to brief heavy rain, along with very gusty winds,” Bell said. “The main concern may be the morning rush hour. That could be very wet and quite windy.
Periods of heavy rain could last through Thursday afternoon, with lingering showers through Saturday, Bell said. Rainfall totals on Thursday are expected to range between a half-inch to 1.5 inches, which would be the wettest day in the Bay Area in several weeks. The only day so far this year with more than 1 inch of rain was Jan. 8, when San Francisco recorded 3.15 inches, Oakland 2.56 and San Jose 1.40.
The storm comes on the heels of a smaller system that delivered light rainfall, hail and snow across the area on Monday. Even with that rain, this February will go down as one of the driest on record .
The current storm is expected to dump as much as 7 feet of snow to the Sierra Nevada, where snowpack levels are dismally low. On Tuesday afternoon, the statewide Sierra snow pack — which also includes the Mount Shasta area — stood at just 23 percent of average, according to the state Department of Water Resources. That’s on pace to be one of the five worst March 1 readings since 1950 when modern records began.
For the water year, which began Oct. 1, rainfall totals across Northern California generally range from 40 to 60 percent of normal, including Oakland (53 percent), San Francisco (49 percent) and San Jose (44).
Two more storms may deliver more rainnext week, but those systems aren’t expected to be as potent as the one expected Thursday, Bell said.
“Exactly how everything will take place, the timing is still up in the air,” Bell said, referring to next week’s rain forecast. “But there’s a good chance of getting rain across the region.”
Bay Area News Group reporter Mark Gomez contributed to this report
