A spring storm is bringing scattered rain across the Northern and Central California, snow and strong wind in mountain areas and the possibility of flash flooding in valleys and wildfire-scarred areas.
Up to an inch of rain fell in locations across the San Francisco Bay Area by 5 p.m. Sunday and more showers were expected after midnight, the National Weather Service said.
“It’s not often when May’s rainfall exceeds February’s,” when no rain fell in San Francisco, the weather service tweeted.
The weather service issued a winter storm warning in effect until Tuesday afternoon, saying up to a foot of snow could fall at higher elevations of the Sierra Nevada, with winds gusting as high as 60 mph on exposed ridgetops.
Thunderstorms in the forecast for Monday may trigger flash flooding in foothill areas scarred by massive, deadly wildfires in 2018 that nearly wiped out the town of Paradise and scorched swaths of Shasta and Trinity counties.
The much-needed rain will bring a temporary reprieve from the early start of the wildfire season.
