WINTER WEATHER: Rain and snow in the forecast,
A wet storm system is expected to bring 0.50 to 1 inch of rain to parts of Calaveras and Tuolumne counties Tuesday night into Wednesday, as well as up to 18 inches of snow at Ebbetts Pass and up to 1 foot of snow at Sonora Pass, forecasters in Sacramento said Monday.
A winter storm warning has been issued from 2 p.m. Tuesday to 6 p.m. Wednesday for an area that includes Avery, Arnold and Calaveras Big Trees on Highway 4 and Twain Harte, Mi-wuk Village, Long Barn, and Pinecrest on Highway 108.
Cherry Lake is also in the winter storm warning area. The north half of Yosemite National Park in Tuolumne County is under a winter weather advisory from 4 p.m. Tuesday to 4 p.m. Wednesday.
“This system is coming from a little farther south than the last one,” Sierra Littlefield, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Sacramento, said Monday in a phone interview. “It’s tapping into a little more moisture. The snow levels are going to be a little bit higher.”
Snow levels are expected to come down to around 6,500 feet with the approaching storm, and as low as 5,500 feet by Wednesday morning.
Ebbetts Pass on Highway 4 and Sonora Pass on Highway 108 remain closed due to snow from recent storms. It’s unclear whether the passes will reopen or remain closed for winter.
As of Monday, there was a 70-percent chance of heavy rain Tuesday night in Sonora and East Sonora and 80-percent chance of heavy rain Tuesday night from Soulsbyville to Pinecrest and Strawberry.
“It’s a pretty good chance of precipitation in the Mother Lode region,” Littlefield said. “It’s looking by the Tuesday evening hours, that area should definitely get some precipitation.”
Overnight lows in the foothills Tuesday night into Wednesday were expected to be in the 40s and could dip to 33 at Pinecrest and into the 20s on Wednesday night.
The storm could also bring southwest wind gusts of 20 to 35 miles per hour in some foothill areas, and 40 to 60 mph on exposed mountain ridges. Rain and snow showers could linger into
Thursday in the Central Sierra.
On the heels of the approaching system, drier weather is expected from the end of this week into the weekend. Another storm system is possible early next week before Thanksgiving.
As of Monday morning, the Stanislaus River and Tuolumne River watersheds had received 0.90 inch of precipitation since Oct. 1, when the current water year began.