Winter storms headed for Lodi and surrounding region

Lodi may have a shot at a somewhat normal winter after all.

Dense tule fog is expected this morning, the precursor to a winter storm system that should move in on Thursday and Friday. A second system is expected to bring more rain starting Sunday afternoon. And more will follow. “We’re going to see a variety of different storm types” in the coming weeks, said Randy Adkins, a meteorologist with the private forecasting firm AccuWeather. “Some will be warmer than others and have less snow with them. Some will be colder.”

Thursday’s storm is expected to bring at least a quarter-inch of rain to the Lodi area, if not more.

“That system will likely be able to produce half an inch to an inch of rain across the area,” Adkins said.

It will also bring snow to the Sierra, building the snowpack and bring good news for skiers.

The change is partially due to a high-pressure ridge off the coast — dubbed the Ridiculously Resilient Ridge by meteorologists — faltering. It’s in a transient state right now after weather systems managed to beat it down, at least temporarily, Adkins said.

However, unlike last year’s rainy season, meteorologists are not expecting a series of moisture-laden atmospheric rivers to flow in from the Pacific. Instead, they’re predicting a more usual pattern of storms from all over, some with lots of rain and some with just a little.

That doesn’t mean there’s no chance of heavy rainfall.

“There’s likely to be over the next two to three weeks at least two or three noteworthy systems that may prompt flood warnings,” Adkins said.

But with the apparent end of the dry winter comes colder temperatures, too.

The Stockton area has seen warm temperatures all winter, with highs about 8 degrees above average in January, Adkins said.

Over the next 10 days, daytime temperatures will be maybe 2 or 3 degrees higher than normal, though the lows will still be warm, he said.

“We should see temperatures become much closer to average,” he said.