Temperature roller coaster: Cold weekend weather expected to impact Valley, Grapevine
While it has certainly felt spring-like in the Central Valley over the last few days, winter is coming, to quote “Game of Thrones.”
A cold storm system is tracking southward off the Gulf of Alaska and will pass over the Central Valley on Sunday, bringing with it a massive temperature drop and the possibility of precipitation, including hail and snow, according to the National Weather Service.
The temperature on Friday is expected to be 80 degrees in Fresno and 79 degrees in Merced. That is more than a dozen degrees above Fresno’s seasonal average and just tops the the daily record of 79 degrees set in 1926.
By contrast, Sunday’s high temperature is expected to just below 60.
“It’s going to be a big, big change,” says Kevin Durfee, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. That will be especially felt by campers and hikers in the high Sierra, where there will could be snow and wind chill temperatures at sub-zero.
Snow and rain totals
The storm won’t produce much in terms of precipitation (less than a tenth of an inch in the Valley), but there could be isolated thunderstorms Sunday afternoon and those thunderstorms could come with hail, Durfee says.
Snow is expected for the mountain and foothill areas at as low as 3,000 feet.
And yes, that could impact travel for those going into — and out of — the Central Valley via the I-5 Grapevine and Highway 58.
It won’t be the massive snowfall that shuttered those passes in December. But it could be enough to cause wet or possibly ice conditions during peak travel times Sunday afternoon.
“The timing isn’t good,” Durfee says. “It doesn’t take a whole lot of there to be issues with travelers.”
Drivers should check conditions before heading out.
The good news (or bad news for snow pack totals) is that the storm is expected to move through quickly. By late Monday, temperatures should bounce back to seasonal levels.
This story was originally published February 27, 2020 at 4:15 PM.