Storms Sweep Northern Calif. With Heavy Rain, Snow and Wind

It was sunny and 88 in Alaska, while Northern California’s endless winter continued Saturday, kicking off yet another weekend of heavy rains, chilly temperatures and more snow in the Sierra.

Much of the San Francisco Bay Area struggled to reach the low 60s under rainy skies Saturday, with showers falling from Stockton to Ukiah.

Winds of up to 30 m.p.h. buffeted the coast, while snow fell at altitudes as low as 4,000 feet in the Sierra Nevada. Tornadoes touched down Saturday near Fresno and in Morgan Hill, where a barn was damaged.

That sounds like a January weather report, not May. So what’s going on?

The deadly floods and record rains that swept the state in January were blamed on a strong El Nino weather condition, which usually brings wet weather to the West Coast.

But that’s probably not the case now, said National Weather Service forecaster John Farley.

He blamed the lousy weekend on a snakelike upper level trough that usually sits over the Gulf of Alaska while its corresponding ridge brings warm weather to Northern California. This week, the pattern is reversed, he said.