Wet Wednesday May Cause Traveling Delays Before Another Stormy Weekend

Capital Public Radio Staff

If you’re driving through the Sacramento Valley, or especially the Sierra, on Wednesday, you should plan on potential delays caused by wet weather.

According to the National Weather Service, a small storm system has largely passed across the region, but some showers may still linger during this morning’s commute.

“Once the storm passes, we’re expecting anywhere from a quarter inch in the valley to upwards of an inch for some of the foothills and the Sierra by the time it’s done here tonight,” says Mike Kochasic, meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

The weather service is forecasting a dry Thanksgiving, followed by another storm system that should start Friday and last through Sunday.

This could mean that holiday shoppers should plan ahead and bring along umbrellas when heading out for their annual sprees the day after Thanksgiving.

“(The storm) is coming out of the northwest and diving across the northern part of California here,” Kochasic says. “We’re expecting it to move through and exit the region tonight, and have a bit of dry weather Thanksgiving.”

Kochasic says chain controls are likely for some parts of the weekend. The weather service says the storm system is relatively small and probably will not result in gusty winds except in the upper elevations of the Sierra.

In the Sierra, these latest storms could add about 10 to 20 inches to the snowpack at the higher elevations, and snow levels could drop below 4,000 feet elevation, which may also cause travel delays in the foothills and at the pass level in the Sierra.