Unpack those sweaters. Weather Service puts Fresno area on winter storm watch

Fresno is in for a temperature drop.

The National Weather Service is calling for “significant cooling” in central California on Sunday into Monday as an intrusion of cold air moves into the area, bringing a good chance of rain and snow above 6,000 feet

Afternoon highs for Sunday are expected at 60 degrees in Fresno; 15 degrees below seasonal norms and 20 degrees cooler than Friday’s expected high of 82.

Plus, the city could see a quarter-inch to a half-inch of rain through Monday. It would be the first rainfall since mid-March.

In the high country of the Sierra Nevada this could be “a heavy snow event,” the weather service said. Shaver Lake is likely to see three to four inches.

Of course, the central San Joaquin Valley is in the midst of severe drought, according to the National Drought Mitigation Center, and the storm will do little to change what the weather service is calling “a large seasonal precipitation deficit.”

Fresno is almost three-quarters of an inch below normal rainfall levels for the month.

Snow pack levels in the Central Sierra are 37% of normal, according to date shared by the weather service.

“Last year was poor but this year to date is worse,” it wrote.

Whatever effects the storm does have could linger into Tuesday, followed by the possibility of another ridge pattern mid-week.