Author: Meteo Expert Josef Lukas

Severe weather with high potential for destructive storms and tornadoes looks to kick off on Sunday afternoon.

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It’s been an active and very wet start to 2017 in California, a welcome relief from the harsh drought conditions that have lingered over the state for the past five years. Three more systems are lining up to bring even more rain and snow to the suddenly drenched Golden State through Monday, along with other parts of the Southwest.

First Storm

The first storm will begin to wrap up over California today, as rounds of rain and snow showers will continue into Thursday evening. Rain will continue for lower elevations of Utah and Arizona through early Friday morning, while higher elevations will continue to pick up snowfall. Locations such as Salt Lake City may perhaps see a wintry mix at times, resulting in a slushy accumulation through late Thursday evening.

 

24 hour rainfall totals through Late Thursday Morning:

1). Sacramento International Airport, CA: .62 inches

2). Vacaville, CA: 2.27 inches

3). San Francisco International Airport, CA: .79 inches

4). San Jose International Airport, CA: .54 inches

5). San Luis Obispo, CA: .97 inches

6). Oxnard, CA: 1.29 inches

7). Los Angeles International Airport, CA: .63 inches

8). San Diego International Airport, CA: .20 inches

 

 24 Hour snowfall totals through Late Thursday Morning:

1). Soda Springs,CA: 20.0 inches

2). Mount Shasta, CA: 18.0 inches

3). Kingvale, CA: 18.0 inches

4). South Lake Tahoe, CA: 4.0 inches

 

Second Storm

A brief break is expected ahead of the next storm, as it moves in from the northwest overnight Thursday into Friday morning. The storm will take a very similar track as the first, bringing widespread rain and heavy mountain snow to pretty much all of California before pushing inland to Nevada, Arizona, and Utah. The second system will have a bit more of a southwestward push compared to the first, which will allow for some heavier rain to reach Phoenix and Tucson Friday, while heavy snow pounds central and northern Arizona, including Flagstaff.

Third Storm

Most of Saturday should bring another lull in the action before the third storm pushes into Northern California starting Saturday night, spreading over the rest of the state by Sunday. Showers will make it into Las Vegas Sunday evening and continue for Monday. Phoenix looks to have a dry Sunday, but light to moderate rain will return from the third storm on Monday.

Once the third storm moves out Tuesday morning, California and the rest of the Southwest should finally get a good break from the wet weather, as high pressure builds in to deflect any new storms through at least the end of January.

The graphic above gives an approximate amount of precipitation expected by Monday night. It should be noted that these are six day totals, so not all of it will fall at once. That said, it will be possible for localized areas to receive more precipitation than is indicated, especially in parts of coastal California, where terrain could help enhance some of the rain leading to higher totals and a higher flood risk. With how wet things have been, mudslides will be a risk in hilly areas, especially where wild fires burned away vegetation within the last year or two. Streams and rivers will be running high, and roads will be wet with some ponding possible in low lying spots, so use caution as these three storms move through.

Check out the Morecast App for the latest forecast and radar, and keep tabs with Morecast USA on Twitter for the latest info as California prepares to get drenched/snowed in once again.

 

Moderate to heavy rain across the Pacific Northwest and British Columbia, with some more localized wintry precipitation, started on Monday and will continue through Wednesday.  
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