Overnight storm in is last rain of the weekend, but more is on the way
Between a recent heat wave, gusty winds and an overnight rain storm, the Bay Area's April weather has been nothing short of erratic.
Don't expect that to change. Although Sunday is expected to be clear and warmer, meteorologists predict more wet weather starting Tuesday morning with another storm on track to hit later in the week.
Those April showers are a welcome sign for a region struggling with drought conditions and could produce some green in the browning hills of the Sacramento Valley, where just last week weather officials issued their earliest ever red-flag wildfire warning.
“Rainfall like this could
help the dry grasses and fuel levels out there absorb some moisture and eliminate the possibility of a wildfire,” explained Matt Mehle, a meteorologist in the National Weather Service.
By Saturday morning, overnight rainfall in the Bay Area reached just 0.2 inches in the Santa Clara Valley, which was shielded from a much stronger downpour that dropped 1.5 inches in the Santa Cruz Mountains.
Meanwhile, the East Bay hills saw about half an inch of rain, compared to 0.25 inches in Oakland and inland areas of Alameda and Contra Costa counties.
Conditions should remain dry through the start of the work week, but likely not past Monday night.
“There'll be a break in the action with some quiet weather, and then we'll see another round of rainfall, followed by another break and then we're back to it by late Wednesday night and early Thursday morning,” Mehle said.
Although the system arriving early in the week isn't expected to bring a lot of rain, the storm that's forecast to arrive mid-week could be much heavier, he added.