The now-saturated Bay Area is in for colder temperatures, more showers and unsettled weather over the next few days, with a break in the rain expected by the weekend, forecasters said.
The storm system was expected to bring more rain starting Monday night, with showers lingering through Wednesday afternoon. Some minor flooding can be expected, since the ground is already soaked by recent rains, the National Weather Service said.
Snow levels dipped Monday night to about 1,500 feet but were expected to rise quickly by Tuesday morning to about 3,000 feet. Temperatures will fall to at or near freezing Tuesday morning throughout the Bay Area, the weather service said.
The holiday season cold snap has led to a dusting of snow on Bay Area mountain peaks.
Snow fell on Mt. Hamilton on Sunday night and into Monday, and more could be on the way, a NWS meteorologist said.
The weather service does not have cameras tracking snowfall but ALERTWildfire does and shows a considerable amount of snow on Mt. Hamilton, located in Santa Clara County and home of the Lick Observatory.
Snow was still falling, and by the end of the day Wednesday, as much as a foot could be atop that peak and others.
“It’s going to be cold out there,” meteorologist Roger Gass said.
Elevations above 4,000 feet will be cold enough that by Wednesday the total accumulation of snowfall could be significant, Gass said.
Sunday night into Monday, snow may have fallen on peaks as low as 3,500 feet, weather officials said.
Some peaks above the Big Sur coast are also likely to have seen snow.
“Those typically turn into a winter wonderland,” Gass said.
A break from the rain towards the end of the week is expected, but temperatures will remain cool through Friday. Rain chances are back in the forecast for early next week.
Bay City News reporters Kathleen Kirkwood and Keith Burbank contributed to this story.