Tuesday’s forecast: A very cold and dry airmass is over Northern California. Out in the Pacific a series of wet storms are lining up to march across the North State. Today will start off mostly sunny and cold with increasing clouds in the afternoon. The clouds will help keep temperatures up tonight so
minimum temperatures in Redding Wednesday morning will in the upper 20s and lower 30s.
Now comes the hard part of the forecast. The first storm will reach our area on Wednesday. A lot of the cold dry air will still be trapped in the north end of the Sacramento Valley and canyons north of Redding. This cold air will drop snow levels Wednesday to very low levels. I think
Wednesday the snow levels in the Redding area will be 500 to 1000 feet. So snow is possible in Redding … stress the word possible. Too early to really forecast amounts since the cold air will be breaking up in the late afternoon and evening.
The next storm reaches the coast on Thursday and will bring heavy rain at times to the Redding and all of the North State. The snow levels will rise to 5,000 to 5,500 feet. Gusty south winds are expected Thursday.
Friday another system moves through with more heavy rain with snow levels still 5,000 to 5,500 feet. Stronger south winds are expected Friday in the Redding area. Another storm will move through late Saturday and Sunday with more rain and wind. Snow levels will lower to 3,000 to 4,000 feet.
I still expect Redding to see at least 2 to 3 inches of rain by the time this series of storms are over.
Check the weather section of A News Café for daily updates on the weather.
The Old Forecaster…
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Monday’s forecast: The change in the large scale weather pattern that we have talked about in the weather section is starting.
A cold air mass will move into the North Valley later today and tonight we will see the wind-sheltered areas around Redding dropping into the upper 20s. Monday night could be even colder with the low lying areas in the mid 20s and even the Westside thermal areas could be below freezing.
The first in a series of storms will arrive on Wednesday, and due to the cold air trapped in the valleys, snow levels will be quite low and probably near 1,000 feet in the Redding area.
Thursday the warmer and wetter air moves into the North State. The snow levels will rise to 5,000 to 6,000 feet. Redding can expect rain heavy at times from late Wednesday through Friday. Gusty south winds will precede each storm with a short break behind it before the next one moves in.
So here is my forecast of how much rain the North State will get: This time next week the Redding area will have had 2 to 3 inches of rain with over 5 inches in some mountain areas.
Check the weather section of A News Café for daily updates on the weather.
(Please feel free to share in the comments section below and in my blog the weather conditions where you are. Please report your location, the day and approximate time of your weather report.)
~ The Old Forecaster …
Chris Fontana, aka 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 U.S. Air Force, Chris transferred to the NWS office in Redding, where he was the meteorologist in charge from 1976 until the office closed in 1996. From 1996 until his 2005 retirement, he was the meteorologist in charge of the U.S. Forest Service 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.
A News Cafe, founded in Shasta County by Redding, CA journalist Doni Greenberg, is the place for people craving local Northern California news, commentary, food, arts and entertainment. Views and opinions expressed here are not necessarily those of anewscafe.com.
