Following an unusually dry January, Sacramento is looking at back-to-back storms that bring with them intense rain, wind and snow.
ABC 10 Morning Meteorologist Rob Carlmark told CapRadio “This is exactly what we need.”
“What’s remarkable about California is that we are the true champions of a boom and bust cycle,” he said. “The boom was a major atmospheric river system that just pounded Northern California [in November] and we got a lot of rain and snow up there that really carried us through to where we are right now.”
Three weeks of “completely dry” weather followed in January, which Carlmark called “exceptionally rare.”
“If you follow it up with another major cycle of wet rain and snow and everything coming together, you can make up a lot of ground very quickly,” he said. “Somehow, we’re going to end up close to our averages, if not a little bit above even, with historic lack of rain and snow right in the middle of our prime rainy season.”
Carlmark said the I-80 corridor from the Bay Area through Tahoe will be the most affected with Sacramento expecting four or five inches of rain through Wednesday.
“And for Tahoe, we’re going to get at least a couple of feet of snow,” he said. “Now, once you get to Stockton and Modesto and some of those areas, they're still looking at at least a couple inches of rain grand total.”
He stressed that the first storm will intensify Saturday due to an increase in warm air.
“The warmer the air that’s coming in, it’s going to be snowing at much higher elevations than it normally does,” he explained.
According to Carlmark, this can lead to issues because rainfall will melt the fresh snow, leading to increased runoff and potential flooding.
“We’re going to notice a totally different world by the time we get to the end of the weekend,” he said. “And this is just the first system. We’ve got another brand new one that’s also very wet. That one shows up on Monday and goes all the way until Wednesday.”
Love Laundry during a rain storm Friday, Nov. 22, 2024, at 2431 K St in Sacramento.(Gerardo Zavala/CapRadio)
What does this mean for our snowpack?
Carlmark said federal, state and local reservoirs are doing well at 116% of average capacity for this time of year. However, what is lacking is the state’s snowpack level, which he said is at around 67% of what it usually is this time of year.
He noted that by the end of these storms, he’s expecting both rainfall and snowfall to be close to average after this year’s dry start. He also said Sacramento will experience a “much-needed break” starting Thursday through the upcoming weekend with fairly dry weather.
“The good news about this one is that where we are, as far as capacity for storing all of this stormwater, we're in pretty good shape,” Carlmark stressed.
Visit the Sacramento National Weather Service’s website to stay updated on storm information and traffic conditions on the Caltrans website.
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