According to forecast authorities, a spring storm system could dump up to an inch of rain on the Bay Area by the end of the workweek.
According to the National Weather Service, the whole region might receive a half-inch to an inch of rain between Wednesday and Friday morning.
The system is predicted to make landfall in the North Bay early Wednesday before moving south late Wednesday and into early Thursday.
Light rain this week
EUGENE TANNER/AFP via Getty Images
The light rain showers that fell earlier this week will be replaced by a greater weather system, with half to three-quarters of an inch of rain showers anticipated in San Francisco and the East Bay, and three-quarters to one inch of rainfall expected in elevated landscape areas including the Santa Cruz Mountains, the Oakland Hills, Mount Tamalpais, and Mount Diablo.
A quarter to a third of an inch of rain is possible in the South Bay, as per SFGate.
It's stronger than usual for April, said NWS meteorologist Drew Peterson. However, they anticipate that the overall effects will be positive.
It will put out the fire season by many weeks, and people will receive more rain during this below-average rainfall season so every inch counts.
According to Peterson, most sections of the Bay Area have a 50% chance of seeing some tiny hail, which isn't an unusual event.
When storm systems travel through the area during the shoulder seasons, which occur at the beginning and conclusion of rainy seasons in the autumn and spring, we see more of these showers or thunderstorms that can produce hail than at any other time, he added.
The worst danger, however, is when the hail gathers and blankets the roads, which Peterson compared to driving on an icy road in the dead of winter.
There isn't much you can do once you're on the road, but he advised taking a few precautions.
The National Weather Service has issued a beach hazards statement throughout the coast owing to a "high danger of fatal sneaker waves and powerful rip currents," which will be in effect beginning at 3 a.m. Thursday, till 3 a.m. Saturday, as per NBC Bay Area.
Heavy snow is expected in the Sierra from Wednesday afternoon until Friday morning, leading the weather service to issue a winter storm warning. Elevations over 5,000 feet might receive 1 to 2 feet of snow.
The highest summits might receive up to 3 feet of new snow.
