There may well be a White Christmas in the Sierra this week and in the foothills too.
The National Weather Service says the next storm system will arrive in the region Wednesday and bring the snow level down to as low as 1,500 feet.
Courtney Obergfell is a meteorologist with the weather service. She says holiday travel through the Sierra could be slowed down by whiteout conditions Thursday and Friday.
"It looks like if you're heading over the mountains tomorrow there's going to be some pretty lengthy and significant delays as well as chain controls, so you might want to plan accordingly or change your travel plans if you can," says Obergfell. "Conditions on the major highways across the major highways in the Sierra are going to be pretty dicey."
The snow level could come down low enough to leave powder on Grass Valley, Nevada City, Pollock Pines and Placerville.
"It's going to be a high snow ratio, so the light fluffy snow," she says. "But we're looking at gusty winds, which could be blowing that around, which could lead to white out conditions at times."
Forecasters are expecting four to eight inches at lower elevations and one to two feet higher up.
In Sacramento, the storm will be light, dropping about a quarter inch of rain over Thursday and Friday.
Follow us for more stories like this
CapRadio provides a trusted source of news because of you. As a nonprofit organization, donations from people like you sustain the journalism that allows us to discover stories that are important to our audience. If you believe in what we do and support our mission, please donate today.
Donate Today
