Snow in Porterville? It’s possible

Porterville and the San Joaquin Valley could have its first measurable snow on the Valley floor since 1998.

There was a chance of snow falling late Tuesday night into early this morning. Whatever snowfall that may come this week, though, won’t rival what happened in 1998 as while the National Weather Service is calling for a chance of snow in Porterville this week, it also states little or no snow accumulation is expected.

But Springville can expect snow as snow levels are expected to be as low as 1,000 feet this week by today. Springville could potentially see a lot of snow as the forecast called for as much as a total of 1 to 2 feet of snow from 1,000 to 3,000 feet.

The forecast called for 2 to 3 feet of snow from 3,000 to 5,000 feet and 3 to 4 feet of snow above 5,000 feet.

A cold storm was expected to bring the chance of snow to the Valley floor beginning late Tuesday night, early Wednesday morning. Overnight lows beginning Tuesday night through Friday night were expected to be in the 33 to 37 range, with the lowest at 33 tonight. Tonight’s wind chill factor was forecast to be 29, according to the National Weather Service as of Tuesday afternoon.

Wind gusts were also expected Tuesday night with winds from 20 to 30 mph and as high as 45 mph. The winds were expected to decrease to 10 to 20 mph after midnight and to continue to decrease throughout the rest of the week.

The forecast for overnight Tuesday into early this morning called for rain likely, before 3 a.m., then a chance of rain and snow.

Today’s forecast called for a chance

of rain and snow before 10 a.m., then a slight chance of rain. Overnight Wednesday night there’s a chance of rain before 5 a.m., then a slight chance of rain and snow.

On Thursday there’s a slight chance of rain and snow before 8 a.m., then rain is likely. Another major storm is then expected to begin to hit early Friday morning.

On Friday there’s a 90 percent chance of rain and gusty winds are also expected to return, with gusts as high as 25 mph. There’s a 90 percent chance of rain with between a half and threequarters of an inch possible.

Rain is forecast to continue to be likely through Friday night before 11 p.m. with the winds expected to die down substantially by then. The forecast calls for a 70 percent chance of rain Friday night with another quarter to a half an inch possible.

There’s a 50 percent chance of rain Saturday with a tenth to a quarter of an inch possible and a 30 percent chance of rain Saturday night. The storms were expected to clear Sunday but another substantial rainfall is forecast for this Tuesday.

The forecast called for up to 10 to 16 inches of snow in Camp Nelson on Tuesday night, another 2 to 4 inches of snow today, 3 to 5 inches of snow Wednesday night, 2 to 4 inches of snow Thursday, 4 to 8 inches of snow Thursday night and another major amount of snow of 14 to 20 inches possible on Friday.