Bay Area residents can expect more rain this weekend through next week as another cold front is expected to pass through the area, bringing more precipitation, cooler temperatures and even snow on the bay area’s high elevation ridges and peaks, meteorologists said on Saturday.
“Periods of showers” will persist throughout the Bay Area area from Saturday evening to Sunday morning and will likely continue for a “good part” of Sunday before another cold front moves through the area, said Roger Gass. , a meteorologist in the Bay Area office of the National Weather Service.
Gass said the cold front expected to subside from Sunday evening to Monday morning will bring “much colder” temperatures to the bay area from Monday, with those temperatures potentially settling in the middle of next week. Cities in North Bay won’t see temperatures warmer than the 1940s, while San Francisco is expected to see temperatures hovering around 50 degrees. The interior valleys of North Bay, East Bay and South Bay – like the southern parts of Santa Clara County – could see freezing temperatures, in the low 30s, Gass said.
Nighttime temperatures will drop to the 30’s from Monday through Tuesday, even in cities like San Francisco, Gass said.
Pedestrians walk along a water-clogged path on San Francisco’s Crissy Field on Christmas Day.
Stephen Lam / The ChronicleSunday’s weather system brings potential for snowfall to higher elevations in the Bay Area, Gass said, especially in areas over 2,500 feet. Gass said places such as Mount St. Helena, Mount Diablo and Mount Hamilton could see snow falling, with the latter already seeing “some snow” on Saturday afternoon, Gass said.
“It is possible that the people of the Bay Area could look up into the hills and see snow on these peaks,” Gass said. “It will not be uncommon to see snow in these peaks.”
Gass said it was difficult to determine the snowfall totals expected for these high altitude peaks and ridges, saying “all the humidity and cold air really have to line up properly for this to happen” . Mount Tamalpais could see “a bit of snow mixing in,” Gass said.
Another, weaker cold front is expected to fall in the region on Tuesday through Wednesday, which will result in less precipitation than residents have experienced in recent days, Gass said.
Across the Bay Area, Gass said residents could expect to see another 0.75 to 1.25 inches of rain over the next few days. Over the past 24 hours, San Francisco has seen between 0.3 to 0.6 inches of rain, parts of the East Bay have seen three-quarters of an inch to 1 inch of rain, San Jose has recorded about a tenth of an inch to a quarter of an inch, and the North Bay areas saw between a quarter of an inch and a half of an inch, Gass said.
Lauren Hernández is a writer for the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @ByLHernandez
