SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Rain and snow showers Thursday in northern California mean many big weather events are unfolding at the same time.
For valley locations, morning and afternoon rain will slow traffic and cause crashes and periodic delays. Up to an inch of rain is possible for lower elevations.
By Thursday afternoon the sun may breakthrough as the system slows but will create conditions for thunderstorms.
Thunderstorms may produce additional heavy rain, lightning, wind and hail. Rain will again move in overnight and through early Christmas Eve on Friday. Rain should slow in valley locations during Friday and a new storm will bring more rain and snow on Christmas Day.
For higher elevations early Thursday brought in some warmer air and higher snow levels only to the passes, but will rapidly drop through the day to 5,000 feet or lower with chain controls and gusty winds. Several feet of snow continue to pile up in the Sierra with long-lasting chain controls and long travel periods.
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Snow will continue Friday but become lighter before Christmas as it picks up again and continues to fall lower to about 3,000 feet for the Sierra and even lower for far northern California.
Sunday evening a new strong storm moves in with more rain and snow before cold air moves in Tuesday.
The middle to end of next week could get very interesting with very cold air in place. A system works through the area and has the ability to drop snow to 1,000 feet or lower at times. Any travel over major passes like I-5 north of Redding or I-5 south through the Grapevine needs to be watched for low snow among many other mountain passes.
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