A pause between raindrops
The clouds hanging low over Oakland’s Lake Merritt reflect those over much of the Bay Area on Wednesday.
Thursday is expected to offer a respite before a weekend storm that could disrupt holiday travel.
A dry spell will settle over most of the Bay Area on Thursday, but that should last only until the weekend when a bigger storm arrives to potentially disrupt a fair amount of holiday travel plans, officials said.
San Francisco International Airport and Oakland International Airport officials are bracing for delays as a storm is projected to start around midday Saturday in the North Bay and move south while dumping as much as 2 inches of rain in some areas, according to the National Weather Service.
“We are encouraging folks to stay up to date on the forecast, especially if they are going to hit the roads,” said Roger Gass, a meteorologist with the weather service.
SFO expects roughly 175,000 passengers will depart and arrive Friday, the busiest day of the travel season, but Saturday’s weather conditions still could bring significant travel impacts, airport spokesman Doug Yakel said.
On Wednesday, the Federal Aviation Administration implemented a ground delay program at SFO, limiting the number of flights because of low cloud ceilings. Dozens of flights were canceled and more than 200 flights were delayed, said Maria Buyco, SFO’s duty manager.
In the Sierra, a winter weather advisory was scheduled to expire late Wednesday, but resorts near Lake Tahoe already have received plenty of snow this season.
A spokeswoman for Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows said resorts were
expecting a light coat of snow from Wednesday into Thursday, on top of the more than the 11 feet they have received this ski season. By midday Wednesday, the resort had 210 trails open.
“We’ve been opening new stuff every day,” said Liesl Hepburn, a Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows spokeswoman. “We are probably a little bit ahead of the norm ... we are definitely in really good shape.”
The gloomy skies in the Bay Area should clear a bit Friday, which is expected to be dry. But the showers won’t be gone for long. A cold front is expected to bring the Bay Area constant light rain over the weekend and a coat of up to 3 feet of snow in the Sierra.
“The weekend will be wet,” Gass said. “Definitely going to be more of a travel hazard.” San Francisco Chronicle staff writer Mallory Moench contributed to this story.