SACRAMENTO, California —
It's been a quiet week of weather for Northern California apart from freezing morning temperatures.
Sacramento averages 0.2 freezing days in November, but it happened three times in the past week at Sacramento Executive Airport beginning last Sunday.
November is going to end well above average in terms of average temperature, even with the freezing cold morning temperatures in the last week or so. The average temperature this month has been 1.5 degrees above average, thanks in particular to a very warm start to the month.
The warmth this November is a stark contrast to last November which ended up as one of the coldest Novembers in the last 100 years at 3.7 degrees below average.
Wednesday and Thursday morning didn’t quite get to the freezing mark thanks to an influx of warmer air and cloud cover as a low pressure system pushed closer to the coast. A few pockets of the Central Valley received a few hundredths of an inch of rain in the early morning hours Wednesday, but most of it fell along the coast.
More light rain is possible Thursday and into Friday in the valley along with mountain snow, but don’t expect much. Valley rain and higher Sierra snow totals were projected earlier in the week, but the forecast continued to trend down and now no rain is expected for most of the valley.
The Sierra will still pick up snow, albeit accumulations will be light with less than 6" expected. The snow level will sit anywhere from 4,500-5,000 feet.
Temperatures will hover around average and will top out in the upper 50s for valley locations, and 30s and 40s across the Sierra throughout the weekend. Valley low temperatures will be in the low 40s while the Sierra can expect lows in the 20s.
The California International Marathon Sunday will be accompanied by temperatures in the mid 40s to start the race and mid to upper 50s by the early afternoon when most runners are wrapping up. The combination of cool temperatures, mostly cloudy skies and light winds will make for excellent running conditions Sunday morning.
After the unsettled and cool weather will be a warmup in temperatures as high pressure moves back in control. Valley temperatures are set to rise back into the low to mid 60s under a ridge of high pressure with no rain forecast.
