REDDING WEATHER ALMANAC
March 14: Normal max temp 66. Record high for this date, 84 in 2004.
Normal min temp 42. Record min for this date, 32 in 2002.
March 20: Normal max temp 68. Record high for this date 85 in 2004.
Normal min temp 43. Record min for this date 28, in 1987.
Sunrise on March 14 is 7:23 a.m. Sunset 7:15 p.m.
Sunrise on March 20 is 7:13 a.m. with Sunset 7:22 p.m.
We will gain 17 minutes of daylight this week.
Weather Discussion:Â We will start the week off in the same weather pattern we have been in with the jetstream running from west to east across the Pacific and bringing mild storms into Northern California every couple of days.
The next of these storms looks like it will be here Tuesday and Wednesday. A change in the large-scale weather pattern will occur late Wednesday and Thursday.  The jetstream or storm track helps mix cold air from the north with warm air from the south and this helps maintain the heat balance of our hemisphere.
We have had a west to east flow for quite a while now and a more north to south component can be expected.  The jetstream will split late Wednesday and the southern branch will drop southward off the west coast and push a cold low pressure area across Northern California. Thursday and Friday look cool and showery with snow levels down to 3,000 to 3,500 feet. The movement of this low is hard to forecast due to the split flow.  However, I think it will be east and/or south of our area by Saturday and the weekend looks cool and partly cloudy to partly sunny.
Extended Weather Outlook: March 21 through March 31
The first portion of this period, probably March 21 through March 28, we will be in a pattern similar to the one shown below. The jetstream will be running from Alaska southeastward toward Northern California.  This will allow cool or cold storms to move across the area every 2 to 3 days with light to moderate precipitation.  Between the storms skies will be mostly sunny with below-normal temperatures.  High pressure should begin to push northward along the west coast toward the end of the month and this will bring dry weather with above normal temperatures.  March will go out like a lamb.
Chris Fontana — a.k.a. “the Old Forecaster” — started his career as a meteorologist with the National Weather Service (NWS) in Sacramento. After four years as a weather officer in the USAF he transferred to the NWS office in Redding. He was the meteorologist in charge of the Redding office from 1976 until it closed in 1996. From 1996 until his retirement in 2005, he was the meteorologist in charge of the USFS Predictive Service Unit. Chris and his wife Jane have been married over 40 years and he works as a window covering installer in her business, Westwood Window Coverings.
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