More Valley rain expected during peak holiday travel times

Several storm systems will hit the Valley beginning Saturday and could affect travel during the holiday season, the National Weather Service in Hanford said.

Meteorologist Jerald Meadows said a small system will bring some rain to the central San Joaquin Valley on Saturday night and early Sunday. A much larger storm is expected to hit Monday and last throughout Christmas week.

Below-average temperatures are expected to continue into Wednesday, with a forecast overnight low of 30 degrees for Fresno. Rural areas in Fresno County could dip into the 20s sometime early Wednesday morning. The weather service issued a hard freeze warning in effect from 2 to 8 a.m. Wednesday throughout the Valley.

Meadows said the weather service is paying close attention to the Interstate 5 route into Southern California.

On Sunday, a mudslide slowed traffic on the Los Angeles County side of the highway. It was closed from about 7 p.m. to midnight for cleanup.

On Oct. 16, a larger mudslide closed the Grapevine for about a day.

Caltrans spokesman Patrick Chandler said that it isn’t likely that another mudslide would occur over the weekend. However, it ultimately depends on the amount of rain hitting the area.

Mudslides happen when a lot of rain hits one area in a short period of time, he said.

This story was originally published December 15, 2015 at 5:19 PM with the headline "More Valley rain expected during peak holiday travel times."