Heavy Rain And Strong Winds Hit West Coast

An active Pacific pattern will bring heavy rain to parts of the West Coast today and late this week.

Strong offshore low pressure systems will barrel into the northeastern Pacific Ocean through the remainder of this week. The first system will push a wave of moisture onshore today, generating areas of moderate to heavy rain and gusty winds.

With the storm system pulling mild air onshore, precipitation will be mainly in the form of rain from northern California to Washington state today, but snow will fall across the highest peaks. Upslope areas can expect one to two inches of rainfall from today’s system, with lower amounts under one inch in the valleys.

While snow will be limited to the highest peaks of the Cascades and northern California’s Klamath Mountains, several inches of new snow will occur in these spots, with locally higher amounts up to one foot possible on the tallest peaks.

Breezy to windy conditions will develop across parts of northern California and southern Oregon today, especially in the higher elevations where High Wind Warnings and Wind Advisories are in place for sustained winds up to 25 to 40 mph and for gusts up to 50 to 65 mph.

Another system will drive moderate rainfall and high elevation snow into the Pacific Northwest and northern California on Friday and Saturday. This disturbance will also be accompanied by mild temperatures, limiting snowfall to the highest elevations. Rainfall will stretch a bit further south into central and southern California at the end of this week.

Northern and central California will see the bulk of the heavier rainfall Friday into Saturday, where rainfall totals will likely reach 0.5 to 1.5 inches, with locally higher amounts up to 2 inches possible.