Here is weather forecasters’ holiday travel advice in brief for those planning trips in and around the Bay Area and Northern California: Be prepared to deal with wet weather from now through Boxing Day and a bit beyond. (Boxing Day, forecasters may or may not tell you, is the day after Christmas.)
But while weather models and their human interpreters agree we’ll be seeing episodes of rain in the lowlands and snow in the mountains over the next week, the storms to come promise only light to moderate amounts of precipitation. So, neither blizzard nor toad-strangler is foreseen in the coming days in these parts.
And temperatures: They’ll be on the cool side throughout, with highs mostly in the 50s and lows in the high 30s to mid-40s in most of the Bay Area (highs in the low 30s in the mountain resort areas with lows in the upper teens and 20s).
Caveat: Keep checking the forecasts. The go-to sources: National Weather Service San Francisco Bay Area and National Weather Service Sacramento.
Here’s a day-by-day breakdown:
Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 21-22 Bay Area: A cool, cloudy day with rain developing over the North Bay counties during the evening. The heaviest rain in the San Francisco-Oakland area is expected early Sunday morning, with showers anticipated throughout the day. Rainfall amounts will range from a quarter inch or less in the typically drier South Bay locations (San Jose, for instance) to half an inch to an inch in the central Bay Area (Richmond, Oakland, San Francisco) to an inch-plus in Marin County to 1.5 to 2 inches in the predictably soggy reaches of the Russian River drainage in northwestern Sonoma County.
Mountains: The National Weather Service has posted a winter weather advisory for areas above 4,000 feet from 10 p.m. Saturday through 10 p.m. Sunday. Snowfall forecasts are rather light — just 4 to 7 inches except over the very highest terrain, where 1 to 2 feet could fall. If you’re headed into the mountains, be ready for snow- and ice-covered roads and brief periods of whiteout conditions. The usual cautions apply: Carry chains unless you have a four-wheel drive vehicle with snow tires on all four wheels, and make sure you have food, water and warm clothes in case of extended highway delays.
Monday-Tuesday, Dec. 23-Christmas Eve: Bay Area: No rain is forecast Monday. Models show a chance of light rain moving into the region late Tuesday morning and lasting into the evening. If you have an outdoor event planned, like the Christmas Eve luminaria in North Berkeley, the rain could be a spoiler.Mountains: A 20% to 30% chance of snow is forecast both Monday and Tuesday, with only light accumulations expected.
Wednesday-Friday, Christmas Day-Dec. 27: Bay Area: More rain on Christmas, especially in the afternoon. Showery weather possible Thursday and Friday.Mountains: Those 20%-30% snow chances? They persist into throughout the week, again with only light accumulations expected.
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