CHICO — It appears a hefty rain storm is scheduled to hit Northern California on Saturday before quickly moving on.
Bill Rasch, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Sacramento office said the storm is expected to take hold Saturday morning and bring with it considerable precipitation and a slightly lower snow level. Rasch said the temperature is also expected to drop.
“(Friday was) in the 80s and (Saturday) the highs will be in the 50s,” Rasch said. “It’s a fast mover too. It should be mostly sunny on Sunday.”
Chico is looking at more than an inch of rain, much like surrounding valley areas such as Red Bluff, Oroville and Orland. Paradise and surrounding foothills can expect as much as 2.14 inches of rain.
Additionally, Rasch said wind gusts could go as high as 35 miles per hour.
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The snow level could drop to 4,000 feet and gradually have a higher chance of thick snow as the level increases.
“For impactful snow, at 4,000 feet we’re expecting around one to four inches,” Rasch said. “More significant snow will be above 5,000 and could be anywhere from six inches to a foot. At the highest peak, we could see 12 to 18 inches. The tricky part about this is how much will actually accumulate. It’s hard to predict the exact accumulations of snow.”
The storm could start phasing out by the end of Saturday despite the unseasonable conditions.
“It’s going to feel like a winter storm,” Rasch said.
Lake Oroville’s water level continues to climb as it reached 896.97 feet by the end of Thursday, nearing its 900-foot maximum. Last year it hit the maximum but not until June. On May 2, 2023, the lake was at 880.91. For the same date in 2022, it was only at 775.85.
Further north, Shasta Lake was monitored at 1,061.12 feet at noon Friday, slightly less than this date in 2023 when it reached 1,063.52 but dramatically more than 2022 when the level was 946.
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