Weather Forecast: Off And On Showers This Weekend
Redding, Chico, Red Bluff
By Mike Krueger
The cloudy skies with isolated showers in the valley and snow flurries in the mountains on Friday gave way to clear skies overnight allowing our temperatures to drop below freezing in the valley making for another frosty morning. We are tracking another weak storm now over the Gulf of Alaska that is approaching the Northstate and it’s the exact timing of this storm that will determine whether or not Redding gets to see any snowflakes. If the clouds move in sooner than expected then our temperatures won’t drop below freezing meaning it won’t be cold enough for snow in Redding. If the clouds move in after sunrise then the sun will be allowed to warm Redding up above freezing and once again they would just see light showers. So as you can see, it’s all about timing. That all being said, even if the timing is spot on we have to remember that this is a cold storm system and doesn’t have a lot of moisture associated with it meaning even if Redding does see snow it won’t be impressive at all. Check out Meteorologist Rob Elvington’s Blog on this very topic. http://robertelvington.blogspot.com/2012/12/a-look-at-snow-chances-saturday.html
We will continue to see isolated showers in the valley and snow flurries in the higher elevations (1500-2500 feet) all weekend long. Once all is said and done, the valley will only pick up a few tenths of an inch of rain at best. The mountains will only see a dusting of snow to a few inches depending on your elevation.
We’ve got another chance for rain on Monday and Tuesday with snow levels between 2500 and 3500 feet. The forecast models issued on Friday morning dried things out for us on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The forecast models that were issued Friday night put us right back into a wet weather pattern starting next Thursday and lasting at least into the next week. As usual, stay tuned as we continue to monitor the weather pattern very closely.