RAINY DAYS: Cold, wet weather in the forecast,
Two weekend storms brought more than 1 inch of rain to Sonora — more than doubling the town’s rainfall total since July 1 — as well as more than a half-foot of snow to Dodge Ridge Ski Area, while another storm system could bring more rain and snow Wednesday.
The storms helped boost precipitation totals for what has been a historically drier than normal winter season from 19 percent to 34 percent of average for mid-december, according to a five-station index that includes Calaveras Big Trees and Hetch Hetchy.
An approaching storm system is coming from the Pacific Northwest and expected to be cold and wet, National Weather Service Sierra Littlefield in Sacramento said Monday. The next system is coming with 70 percent chances of rain showers Wednesday in the Sonora area.
Before the next storm system moves in, residents of Calaveras and Tuolumne counties can expect sunny, cool and dry conditions through Wednesday, with daytime highs around 50 in most foothills communities.
“This next storm coming is a lowpressure trough coming out of the Pacific Northwest,” Littlefield said Monday in a phone interview. “It looks like it could be cooler than these last ones, and moist, more similar to the storm system that came through Sunday. Snow levels around 4,000, 5,000 feet.”
Precipitation from the system could begin Wednesday afternoon or Wednesday evening, if forecasts are accurate, with rain and snow at elevations overnight into Thursday. Littlefield said precipitation in the form of rain showers and snow showers could linger Thursday before the storm clears out Friday, when it’s expected to be mostly sunny with highs in the 50s again.
As of Friday, before the weekend storms rolled in, Sonora had received 1.24 inches of rain since July 1. The total increased to 2.67 inches by Monday afternoon.
The Central Sierra region that includes the Stanislaus and Tuolumne river watersheds received 1.5 inches of precipitation over the weekend and 3.3 total inches of precipitation since Oct. 1.
At Dodge Ridge Ski Area, staff said Monday morning that Sunday snowfall blanketed the mountain with 5 inches of snow at the base and 7 inches at the summit.
“The most important element to these storms that we’re seeing is the overall weather pattern shift that we’ve been waiting for which looks to continue to bring additional rounds of snowfall in the near future,” Dodge Ridge staff said Monday morning. “Looking at the week ahead, we have another significant round of winter weather coming Wednesday and a winter system following this weekend.”
Bear Valley Mountain Resort off Highway 4 in Alpine County reported a storm total of 9 inches as of Monday morning.
“Sunny skies will prevail today and tomorrow before the next wave of snow arrives on Wednesday,” Mattly Trent with Bear Valley ski patrol and snow safety said Monday morning in a weather update. The Wednesday storm could bring 12 to 20 more inches to Bear Valley, Trent said.
Littlefield with the National Weather Service in Sacramento provided rain and snow totals from the weekend storms for locations in Calaveras, Alpine and Tuolumne counties.
San Andreas received 1.48 inches of rain since Friday afternoon; Angels Camp received 1.52 inches; New Melones received 1.48 inches; Columbia received 1.47 inches; Sonora received 1.42 inches; Chinese Camp received 1.65 inches; and Groveland received 1.14 inches of rain.
Black Springs, east of Calaveras Big Trees at 6,500 feet elevation, received 7.2 inches of snow since Friday afternoon; Bear Valley received 9 inches; Lower Kibbie Ridge near Cherry Reservoir received 6.4 inches of snow; Dodge Ridge received 10 inches; and Gianelli, east of Strawberry at 8,400 feet elevation, received 13 inches of snow.