Projected Rainfall for Mariposa and Oakhurst 3.00" to 4.00"
Projected Rainfall for Yosemite Valley: 3.00" to 4.00"
March 6, 2023 - The National Weather Service Hanford Office reports a much warmer storm system will impact Central California Thursday night through Saturday, resulting in the likelihood of rain in the Sierra Nevada foothills and Sierra Nevada below 8,000 feet.
The majority of this precipitation will fall Friday and Friday night.
The combination of heavy rainfall and rapid snow melt will cause water levels to rise on area rivers and streams, resulting in the possibility of flooding.
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Hanford CA
142 AM PST Mon Mar 6 2023
.SYNOPSIS...
The storm that has impacted us over the weekend will have mostly
moved out of our county warning area by this morning. There will
be a break in precipitation from Tuesday to Thursday. A
significantly warmer atmospheric river will begin to impact the
area Thursday night through Saturday, bringing widespread
precipitation and very high snow levels to our county warning
area. Should these high snow levels occur, it will be highly
problematic as a runoff flooding event could occur as rain will
fall on areas that have recently received high snowfall.
&&
.DISCUSSION...
The storm that has impacted our county warning area through this
past weekend will mostly be moved out of the area by early this
morning. As such, our Winter Storm Warning for most areas and the
Winter Weather Advisory we have out will expire at 4am PST today.
However, there is still some lingering snow and elevated winds
occurring in one of our forecast zones that includes Tuolumne
Meadows, Hetch Hetchy, and Wawona. As such, we have extended the
Winter Storm Warning for that zone until 4pm PST tomorrow, March
7.
We will have a much welcomed break from precipitation Tuesday
through Thursday of this week, which should be a few pleasant days
for the valley. Temperatures will remain largely the same, with
highs near the sixties and lows nearing the forties for the San
Joaquin Valley through Friday. Temperatures in the valley will
warm over the weekend, with highs in the mid to high sixties and
lows nearing 50 degrees.
A strong storm system in the Pacific Ocean will approach the
California coast and begin impacting our area Thursday night
through Saturday. This atmospheric river will bring an abundance
of subtropical moisture into the area alongside widespread
precipitation. This warmer moisture will cause snow levels to be
extremely high, beginning at 5000 feet and above on Thursday and
rising to 8000 feet by Friday. These high snow levels combined
with moderate to high rain totals will result in rapid snow melt
in areas that have received several feet of snow in the past few
weeks.
Rain totals for the area are: half an inch to an inch of rain for
the central valley, one to one and a half inches of rain for the
eastern San Joaquin Valley, and 2-3 inches and above for the
Sierra and foothills, with some high totals of 4-6 inches at
Shaver Lake and Grant Grove. Because of very high snow levels,
snow totals will be high for only a few locations: Tioga Pass,
Mammoth Lakes, and Mt. Whitney could each see one to three feet of
snow. Other areas will see very low snow totals of 1-2 inches,
while the rest of the precipitation that falls will be rain. Much
of the precipitation is forecast to fall Friday and Friday night.
This combination of heavy rainfall and rapid snow melt could prove
to be very problematic and result in dangerous flooding
conditions. Water levels will rise in river areas and streams
Thursday through Saturday. People living near rivers and streams
should closely monitor water levels and be ready to move to higher
ground if the threat of flooding becomes imminent. People in these
areas should also have an evacuation plan and keep a close eye on
our websites and social media for further hydrologic updates. Our
office has issued a Hydrologic Outlook with more information due
to the threat of flooding for these areas of our CWA.
&&
.AVIATION...
VFR conditions will prevail throughout central California for the
next 24 hours.
&&
.AIR QUALITY ISSUES...
ISSUED: 03/05/2023 14:44
EXPIRES: 03/06/2023 23:59
None.
&&
.CERTAINTY...
The level of certainty for days 1 and 2 is medium.
The level of certainty for days 3 through 7 is medium.
Certainty levels include low...medium...and high. Please visit
www.weather.gov/hnx/certainty.html for additional information
and/or to provide feedback.
&&
.HNX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
Winter Storm Warning until 4 AM PST early this morning for
CAZ318-320-322-324>331.
Winter Storm Warning until 4 PM PST Tuesday for CAZ323.
Winter Weather Advisory until 4 AM PST early this morning for
CAZ332-333.
Source: NWS
