Slight drizzle might just be a preview of second storm system inbound for weekend

The second of a tandem of storm systems bound for the Bay Area was forecast to touch down Saturday, following the light rains that were expected to dampen roadways for this morning's commute, according to the National Weather Service.

Most of the rain for today was expected to fall while many Bay Area residents were asleep in the early morning, with a large majority of the day's precipitation projected between 1 and 5 a.m.

San Jose was likely to receive no more than one-tenth of an inch overnight, though the rain's timing was expected to leave roadways slick for morning commutes. Totals in San Francisco, Oakland and Walnut Creek also were projected to be slim, between onequarter and four-tenths of an inch, the NWS predicted.

A second storm system expected Saturday evening could provide similar amounts of rainfall, NWS meteorologist Roger Gass said, but it was expected to linger longer than the cloud cover this morning.

“This one is going to have a little bit more of a punch as far as the shower activity afterwards,” Gass said. “That could specifically give places like San Jose that normally get rain-shadowed from the mountains … a little more rain with those showers.”

NWS forecasts showed rain moving in late in the afternoon Saturday, bringing about one-third of an inch with it in the East Bay and on the Peninsula.

San Jose was expected to receive about one-tenth of an inch Saturday, but lingering showers into Sunday morning could bring the total up to onethird of an inch, Gass said.

Gass added the region shouldn't see mass flooding or weather events similar to those in early January, but soils that absorbed all that water remain “quite saturated,” he said.

“There's still always a possibility of something like broken tree limbs or maybe an isolated power outage or so,” he said. “We will get some breezy to gusty winds at times, maybe in the 25-to-35 mile per hour range. It's not a widespread hazard, as far as the winds go, but it's not a 0% of some of those issues.”

After the rain departs sometime Sunday, a cold front was predicted to move in. Lows around 38 degrees were expected in San Jose overnight Sunday, with daytime temperatures in the mid-60s expected early next week.