A monsoon storm that pounded Phoenix earlier this week with strong winds, heavy rains and powerful dust clouds may minimally impact parts of the Bay Area and other Northern California parts, including Lake County, beginning today, according to the National Weather Service.
Meteorologists with the weather service office in Monterey are forecasting a slight chance of thunderstorms and light rainfall in the North Bay and East Bay beginning Thursday afternoon and lasting into tomorrow morning. Meanwhile the NWS in Sacramento predicts a 20-percent chance of showers and thunderstorms to strike parts of Lake County before 11 a.m. Friday.
The “monsoon moisture” is moving north from Arizona into Central and Northern California and is the same system that slammed Phoenix on Monday with 70 mph winds, heavy rain and dust storms, according to Drew Peterson, a meteorologist with the weather service.
Wednesday morning, Peterson said it was still “really hard to pin down where we’re going to see any activity.”
“We’re primarily looking at the North and East bays for a slight chance of a dry thunderstorm,” Peterson said. “That doesn’t mean we won’t get any precipitation. It’s possible we could get some rain out of it.”
With cooler temperatures and the return of the marine layer across the Bay Area, potential wildfires from lightning strikes are not expected to grow rapidly, Peterson said.
Temperatures across the Bay Area inland locations are expected to remain in the upper 80s for the next several days, with no real spikes expected, Peterson said.
“Our hottest days for recent memory will be behind us,” Peterson said. “We’re not looking at any extreme temperatures any time soon.”
The weather service also issued a hazardous weather conditions alert that covers for many NorCal areas including Lake County. The special report announced another round of hot temperatures this weekend and into Monday, as the increase in humidity from the reported Monsoon moisture is expected to diminish by Friday. Some areas are expected to reach triple-digit weather.
Tammy Murga with the Lake County Record-Bee contributed to this report.
