Spring Storm Soaks Northern Part of State

A late spring storm was expected to cover the western Sierra Nevada with 6 to 12 inches of snow overnight as rain continued to soak Northern and Central California, the National Weather Service said Sunday.

Southerly winds gusting up to 40 m.p.h. will accompany the storm over the Sierra on the Nevada-California border before conditions improve to partly sunny this afternoon, forecasters said.

The weather service predicted the snow level would drop to about 5,000 feet at Mt. Shasta by early Memorial Day, 6,500 feet at Lake Tahoe, 7,500 feet in Yosemite and 9,000 feet in the southern Sierra.

Rainfall totals of 2 to 4 inches will be common in the mountains with one-half to 1 inch at most lower elevations, forecasters said.

By Sunday afternoon, rain showers had spread as far south as Santa Maria, Bakersfield and the far southern Sierra. Precipitation was expected to reach the Tehachapi Mountains by Sunday night. A slight chance of rain was predicted for the Los Angeles Basin.

About an inch of rain fell in San Francisco and the North Bay on Sunday, spoiling plans of Memorial Day picnickers and forcing cancellation of the baseball game between Oakland and Cleveland. Honeydew in Humboldt County received 5.1 inches of rain during the weekend and Ross, in the northern San Francisco Bay Area, got 2.9 inches.

Napa reported 1.25 inches of rain on Sunday, causing vintners some concern about crops as well.

“In 20 years in the business I have never seen so much rain during the bloom period,” said Forrest Tanner, winemaker at Iron Horse Vineyards near Sebastapol where, he said, 2 inches had fallen this weekend and 2 inches last weekend. He said it’s normally warm and sunny at this time of year.

Weather service forecaster Daryl Williams said the storm should not cause any severe wet pounding.

“But we might get a steady, slow, soaking rain out of it, which is better,” he said.

Forecasters said more rain is expected in the north by midweek.

Welcome as it was, the precipitation was not expected to have a major impact on drought conditions in the state, officials said.