![]() ![]() Like the cold low-pressure systems that clogged the skies of California with thunderstorms during winter, May’s systems could reel in convective showers to parts of the state, including the Sierra foothills. The heightened chances for May precipitation includes the risk for isolated thunderstorms. In other words, there is still plenty of snow left to melt away in the coming months. The Climate Prediction Center is calling for cooler than average temperatures for most of the Sierra Nevada, but longer days and shorter nights will inevitably lead to warming soils and the melting of the snow closest to the ground. Snow showers on Monday and the cooler air won’t do much to slow down the ongoing snowmelt that’s under way, especially in the rivers and streams around Yosemite in the Central Sierra and the Tulare Basin on the foothills of the Southern Sierra. The snowpack as of Friday was still running 219% above average in the Northern Sierra, 253% in the Central Sierra and 336% in the Southern Sierra, even after April’s heat wave. The Sierra Nevada snowpack at the end of April, with several stations still measuring large quantities of snow along the range’s summits. The setup for the first week of May won’t lead to major changes to the depth of the wider snowpack across the Sierra Nevada. The Central and Southern Sierra’s summits are also expected to have fewer accumulations - only 1 to 4 inches above 6,000 feet and trace amounts in the valleys. The highest elevations of the Tahoe region can expect between 5 to 8 inches of snow, while a little accumulation is expected in the valleys below 6,000 feet - up to half an inch of snow. Snow showers are forecast to fall at the summits surrounding Lake Tahoe starting Sunday, with more widespread showers at lower elevations closer to Interstate 80 by Monday. It’s not looking like there’s an immediate end in sight for these flood concerns. Instead, weather models suggest there will be a heightened possibility of light showers scattered throughout the month across the Bay Area’s shoreline.Ĭommunities downstream of the Sierra Nevada have been experiencing some of the most pronounced flooding from snowmelt in recent memory, with places in Kings and Kern counties and parks like Yosemite National Park remaining closed to the public out of concerns for more flooding. The Santa Cruz Mountains are likely to be in the bull’s-eye for most of Tuesday’s showers, with totals exceeding an inch across the summits near Ben Lomond.Īt this point, the rain outlook doesn’t indicate heavy downpours in May. Up to a third of an inch of rain is expected across most of the Bay Area while a half an inch to an inch is forecast in the hillsides. The earliest showers will arrive Monday night, with the bulk on Tuesday. The first week of May is set to see rounds of showers across parts of Northern California, including the Bay Area and Santa Cruz Mountains. Baron/LynxĪccording to the Climate Prediction Center, this is most likely to play out along the immediate coast, with towns and cities along Highway 1 from Mendocino to Point Conception set to have the highest chances of precipitation. The Climate Prediction Center’s outlook for the first few days of May highlights above-average chances of precipitation across Northern California, the Bay Area, Central Valley, Central Coast and the Los Angeles area. Depending on the intensity of the low-pressure systems, May’s outlook could also call for the return of drizzle and light showers over the course of the month. The signal also means that these cold snaps could stream rounds of moisture into Northern California, allowing for what’s often referred to as May Gray - the constant flow of fog that develops around this time of year - to kick off right on cue.īut fog isn’t the only type of moisture set to roll in. Weather models are signaling that troughs of low pressure are likely to form just off the coast of California over the next few weeks, meaning that there is a high chance that temperatures will run below average along the shoreline, bays and delta regions of the Bay Area. ![]() The blue-shaded area corresponds to an elevated chance of low-pressure systems, leading to higher chances of unsettled weather in the mountains and fog returning. The European weather model’s extended outlook for May showcases where anomalous areas of lower pressure are likely to develop. ![]() When these lows form off the coast, the gap they leave behind allows moisture and cold air over the Pacific Ocean to rush toward San Francisco and the wider Bay Area. These lows often develop around 5,000 feet above ground, carving out a gap in the atmosphere like a knife cutting into a slab of butter. California is poised to lock into a weather pattern chock full of troughs of low pressures.
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