Foothill residents urged to prepare for flooding as another storm heads for California

With just a few days to dry out, the central San Joaquin Valley — and the rest of California — is bracing for a new storm that threatens to melt a lot of the fresh snow covering the Sierra Nevada. And quickly.

Jessica Chiari, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Hanford, said she has 80% confidence that the atmospheric river event will arrive, causing heavy rainfall and rapid snowmelt between 1,500 and 3,000 feet.

The weather service said the storm is carrying an abundance of subtropical moisture. The warmer air will drive the snowfall level to 8,000 feet, turning to rain below that mark.

Weather watchers expect the new storm to hit by Thursday night and remain through Saturday, dumping between 2 and 4 inches of rain at the lower mountain elevations. That could cause flooding in foothill streams and problems in the Central Valley, as well, where 1.5 to 2 inches of rain is expected.

The weather service is warning residents living near rivers and streams to monitor water levels and be ready to move to higher ground if the threat of flooding becomes imminent. It would be a good idea to prepare an evacuation plan, as well.

Chiari added that the storm “could certainly” cause flooding on the Valley floor.

This story was originally published March 7, 2023 at 5:30 AM.