Rain will soak Bay Area, lightly at first and then heavier into week

Initial system ‘won’t break any buckets’

The light, wispy clouds that were starting to appear in the distance amid the blue sky that cloaked the Bay Area on Friday morning brought a hint of what was expected Saturday.

Rain is expected to begin falling in the Bay Area, laying the foundation for another system to follow it early next week, forecasters said.

After Friday’s overnight rain, the National Weather Service is forecasting Santa Cruz County will be mostly sunny Saturday with a high in the low 60s with the wind becoming west at up to 13 mph in the morning. The NWS is calling for a clear Saturday night in Santa Cruz County.

After a sunny Sunday, the NWS is forecasting a 20% chance of rain Monday after 10 a.m. Rain is likely Monday night and Tuesday, the NWS said.

“This is not gonna be breaking any buckets by any means,” National Weather Service forecaster Braydon Murdock said. “But it’s setting up that low pressure system that’s been trying to break through. Once that low affects us, you’ll start to see more.”

The low-pressure system, which is descending from Alaska, also will drop temperatures lower and figures to set up a stretch of cold-and-damp weather as the days proceed.

“It’s going to be full-day jacket weather,” Murdock said.

The first system to arrives is expected to bring no more than a quarter-inch of rain to most areas, though Murdock said areas around San Francisco might get up to a half-inch. In the higher elevations, the rainfall totals could be between a half-inch and three-quarters of an inch.

“Dump is a strong word,” Murdock said of the initial rain, which is expected to arrive around sunset in areas of the

North Bay but likely not until at least 10 p.m. in Contra Costa, Alameda, Santa Clara and San Mateo counties.

The stronger rain is expected late Monday night or early Tuesday morning, he said. That system will “cruise along the coast,” Murdock said, and likely will bring stronger rain and higher rainfall totals.

“In a three-day period, we could be looking at three inches of rain,” he said.

In the higher peaks above 2,500 feet, snow may also fall. Lower than that, it’s going to get quite cold, as well, with Murdock saying temperatures may fall into the 30s by Sunday night into Monday morning.

RAY CHAVEZ — BAY AREA NEWS GROUP Clouds move across the bay during sunset as a Sarah Schiavi, of Massachusetts, and her daughter Jillian Schiavi, of Oakland, contemplate the view from the Jack London Square Ferry terminal in Oakland on Tuesday. According to the National Weather Service, there is a chance for light to moderate rain on Friday night into early Saturday morning.