As dry December lingers, chance of showers this week
Fast-moving cold front is expected to deliver more than a quarter of an inch of rain
As California endures one of its driest Decembers in decades, a storm system may bring rain to the northern part of the state and snow to the Sierra Nevada beginning Tuesday night.
The fast-moving cold front is expected to deliver more than a quarter of an inch of rain to the Bay Area, with the highest totals predicted in the North Bay and Santa Cruz mountains, said Rick Canepa, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Monterey. However, most urban locations will likely receive just one to two tenths of an inch.
“There’s a pretty good chance of rain,” said Will Pi, a meteorologist with the weather service. “It’s not going to be a big storm; just enough moisture to give us a little bit of rain in the area.”
The Sierra Nevada may be the greatest beneficiary, as the storm system could deliver between 3 to 5 inches of snow, according to the weather service.
“It’s aiming more toward the Sierra,” Pi said. “They have an even better chance of getting some precipitation out of it.”
Rainfall is expected to be brief in duration and occur mostly overnight, but it could overlap with the Wednesday morning commute in the South Bay.
So far this December, a huge ridge of unusually high atmospheric pressure set up shop over the West Coast and blocked storm systems from delivering precipitation to California. Through Monday, much of the Bay Area was experiencing one of the driest Decembers on record.
Pi said the ridge will break down enough to allow this Tuesday’s storm, and then re-build offshore and create another stretch of dry weather.
Most of California has recorded below average precipitation since Oct. 1, the start of the rainy season, according to the weather service. In the Bay Area, totals include 6.27 inches in Santa Rosa (63 percent of normal), 3.15 inches in Oakland (57 percent), 3.16 inches in San Francisco (47 percent) and 1.5 inches in San Jose (40 percent).