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Hi everyone. This is Bill from the National Weather Service in Sacramento, CA. We here
at the National Weather Service wanted to make you aware of some stormy weather that
is going to impact the area starting tonight and continuing through Sunday. This coming
weekend is typically a pretty busy travel weekend and this storm will bring some significant
weather impacts to major roads and highways in interior Northern California. This briefing
is being prepared on Thursday, December 19th, so you will want to look for updates if you
are viewing this at a later date. So, lets talk about some of the details of this period
of stormy weather we are expecting.
Here is some information about the coming storms. First off, the image on the left is
showing as of Thursday morning the first wave of precipitation was moving onshore in Northern
California. This area of rain and snow will push slowly south and east tonight and Friday.
Two other weather systems will then pass through Sunday keeping the weather unsettled. The
main conditions with these storms will be periods of heavy mountain snow and when combined
with wind will create dangerous winter driving conditions. Across the valley, rain is expected
off an on with storm total rain amounts ranging from 1 to 3 inches. The areas that will see
the heaviest snow will be in Shasta County north of Redding above 1000 feet where 1 to
3 feet of snow are expected by Saturday. Further south in the Sierra, heavy snow is expected
above 3,000 feet with 3 to 5 feet expected by Sunday.
So what we’ve really like to highlight though are the impacts of the storm since many folks
will likely be setting out to travel this weekend. First off, hazardous travel is expected
across all mountain passes through this weekend. Chain controls are likely and there is the
possibility of some road closures. Some of the major roads like Interstate 5 north of
Redding. The time of heaviest snow there will be tonight through Saturday. During that time
snow and wind will likely cause white out conditions at times. Along Interstate 80 and
Highway 50. The snow level is a bit higher around 3000 feet and the time of the heaviest
snow is a bit later and lasts a bit longer compared to interstate 5, with the worst conditions
off and on Friday through Sunday. Thanks for checking in and please be prepared
and plan ahead if you plan to travel across any of the areas we highlighted today. Stay
tuned to the National Weather Service or your favorite local media for the latest weather
updates on this series of storm systems. You can always check out our webpage at www.weather.gov/sacramento.
You can also find us on Facebook. On Twitter, follow #sacwx or #cawx for the latest forecast
and weather updates as they occur! Thank you for listening!