WeatherFanatics: Rain to Reach California, Snow to Ice Over Montana This Weekend

Friday, November 28, 2014

Rain to Reach California, Snow to Ice Over Montana This Weekend

By Brian Lada, Meteorologist

November 29,2014; 12:36AM,EST

uring part of this weekend, many people across the Northwest and northern California will be reaching for their umbrellas, while travelers over the interior mountains will be dealing with snow.

The showers that initially spread over the Northwest on Thanksgiving Day developed into a steadier rain on Friday with the heaviest rain falling west of the Cascade Mountains.
This not only led to wet weather for Black Friday shoppers but also caused some travel delays and isolated flooding in communities along the I-5 corridor.
Snow for the Washington Cascades, Wintry Mix for Seattle
According to AccuWeather.com Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski, "A push of colder air will cause snow levels to lower over the Washington Cascades with several inches accumulating at pass level."
"Motorists should make sure their vehicle is equipped to drive through snow and expect delays due to slippery travel through Snoqualmie Pass on I-90."

Despite the rain shifting south, enough moisture may still linger around for some snow to fall from Seattle to Portland on Saturday.
Little snow is expected to accumulate in these lower elevations, but light snow and near-freezing temperatures in Seattle will make it feel like winter for the waning days of November. There may be slippery spots over the hills.
Rain for Northern California
Colder air will push most of the rain into southern Oregon and northern California this weekend.
The southward push in the moisture will result in wet weather around cities such as San Francisco and Sacramento for both Saturday and Sunday.

"Snow should remain above the major pass levels in Oregon and California this weekend," Sosnowski said.
While this will be far from enough to impact the ongoing drought, rain from this system will help bring monthly rainfall totals closer to normal with both San Francisco and Sacramento only receiving about one-third of their typical rainfall for the month of November as of Thanksgiving.
RELATED:
Interactive Radar
Thanksgiving Weekend Travel: Stormy in the West
Latest Snowfall Accumulation Forecast for Northwest
Slippery Travel, Frigid for Interstate-90 in Montana
Farther inland, over the northern Rockies, enough snow will fall to slow travel along the Interstate-90 corridor from Missoula to Billings, Montana.
"Several inches of snow and plunging temperatures are forecast along I-90 in Montana during the first part of the weekend," Sosnowski said.

"Roads may be initially wet but will turn icy as temperatures plummet to near zero F during and in the wake of the snow."
Some colder air and snowy conditions will also push southward along I-15 in Montana and Idaho this weekend.
Snow will accumulate up to a few inches possible along the I-84/I-86 corridors from Boise to Pocatello, Idaho.
Rain Next Week for Southern California
Those in Southern California that will miss out on the weekend rain should not have to wait too much longer until it is their turn for some wet weather as a system moving in from the Pacific Ocean next week will spread rain over almost all of the state.
AccuWeather.com meteorologists believe that rain from next week's system will arrive on Tuesday and linger through the middle of the week.
This will likely bring an end to the stretch of dry days in cities such as Los Angeles, which has not received measurable precipitation since Nov. 1.

On Social Media

Tweets for this article AccuWeather Updates