Frequent storms to keep northwestern US unsettled much of this week

By Alex Sosnowski, AccuWeather senior meteorologist

April 11,2017, 3:02:06PM,EDT

 

 

Storms packing rain and mountain snow will continue to roll in from the Pacific Ocean and into the northwestern United States this week.
The storms will largely bypass Southern California and will not impact the weather for the first weekend of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.
While the storms farther north will not be intense and more of a nuisance for motorists, they have the potential to produce very isolated incidents of flash and urban flooding.
Where downpours persist on hillsides, the saturated ground can give way and lead to mudslides and other debris flows.

Since December, rainfall has averaged 125 to 175 percent of normal from Washington to Oregon and California. Rainfall has topped 200 percent of normal in portions of Nevada and Idaho.
The first significant storm of the week reached the southern Oregon and Northern California coasts with drenching rain on Tuesday. The soaking rain will pivot northward along the Washington coast and inland to the Interstate 5 corridor from northern Oregon to Washington Tuesday night.
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Snowfall will generally be restricted to above the passes from Tuesday night through Wednesday evening.
"Another, but more robust storm will spread a new batch of rain from Northern California to western Oregon and Washington from late Wednesday to Thursday," according to AccuWeather Meteorologist Brett Rossio.

The storm just past midweek could spread locally heavy rain and travel disruptions to the San Francisco and Sacramento, California, areas.
Later in the week, motorists heading over the passes from the Sierra Nevada to the Cascades should be prepared for wintry travel. Several inches of snow can fall on the passes from late Wednesday night to Saturday.
"A foot of snow can fall over the high country of the Sierra Nevada and Cascades from the storm," Rossio said.
While the storm will not be as intense as last week's system, it can produce locally gusty winds along the coast and over the mountains.
"Strong wind gusts can occur well inland, including portions of Montana by Thursday," Rossio said.
Temperatures may spike to record high levels as the winds blow downhill from the peaks and ridges to the lower elevations just east of the northern Rockies on Thursday.
Areas of rain and mountain snow will tend to diminish and become more spotty in nature on Friday.
Much of Saturday and Easter Sunday will be free of precipitation in the West. However, a new storm may arrive from the Pacific with clouds and showers in coastal areas of Central and Northern California by the end of the weekend.