Arctic storm brings rain to Valley, snow to Sierra

A cold arctic storm swept into the central San Joaquin Valley on Tuesday, drenching streets and highways and dropping snow in the Sierra.

The moderate to heavy showers that started Tuesday afternoon are expected to continue through Wednesday evening, said the National Weather Service in Hanford.

At Shaver Lake, snow started falling around 5 p.m., but as of around 7 p.m. was not sticking, said an employee at Shaver Lake Pizza.

Snow levels are expected to drop overnight to as low as 2,000 feet in the foothills, the weather service said.

Although there was no major flooding, ponds of water were on the roads Tuesday night and are expected to continue through Wednesday evening, the weather service said.

The California Highway Patrol dispatch log showed a surge Tuesday evening in traffic collisions, which CHP spokesman Axel Reyes said is typical whenever it rains – people tend to drive too fast for the slick road conditions. The CHP also received some calls of flooding, which it normally refers to county road departments, he said.

The forecast for Thanksgiving is for partly cloudy with a slight chance of rain in the Sierra and the foothills.

This story was originally published November 24, 2015 at 7:37 PM with the headline "Arctic storm brings rain to Valley, snow to Sierra."