The change of pace we've been waiting for finally arrived across Northern California today. Low pressure tracking towards our region from the Gulf of Alaska is resulting in increasing clouds, cooler temperatures, and gusty South winds across our region today. Temperatures in the valley mostly topped out in the 80's, while foothill and mountain areas ended up in the 70's. Sustained winds out of the South have been up to around 25mph and we'll have potential for gusts up to 35mph this evening. There will also be a decent chance for showers in the Northern Mountains and the Shasta County mountains tonight. Most models are keeping the rest of our area dry, but there is a slight chance for some active weather also moving North into our region from low pressure tracking through Southern California tonight.
The area of low pressure dropping down from the Gulf of Alaska will be just off the coast of Northern California and Oregon on Saturday. We'll have much cooler temperatures, gusty south winds, some clouds, a decent chance for light showers and a slight chance for thunderstorms through your Saturday. The best chance for active weather will be on Saturday afternoon and will be in areas of the North Valley, foothills, and moutains. Thunderstorms could result in hail and localized stronger winds. There will also be a slight chance for showers in the mid valley. Winds will be out of the South to around 15mph, with gusts up to around 25mph. Valley temperatures will start out in the 50's to low 60's and will end up in the mid 70's to low 80's on Saturday afternoon. High temperatures will end up in the 70's in the foothills, and in the 60's in most mountain areas. Snow levels will start to drop as we head into Saturday night and will be down to as low as 5000' by Sunday morning. Slick roads from snow may make mountain travel somewhat difficult for the latter part of your weekend.
Sunday will be around 5 degrees cooler than Saturday in the valley and between 5 to 10 degrees cooler in the Sierra. Valley areas will start out in the 40's to low 50's on Sunday, and mountain areas will start out in the 20's to 30's. High temperatures will end up in the low to mid 70's in the valley, while the Sierra will end up in the mid to high 50's. Mostly mountain showers are expected to linger through your Sunday forecast, but the far northern end of the valley will also have a slight chance for showers and thunderstorms in the afternoon.
High pressure will start to build back into Northern California early to mid week next week and that will result in clearing skies and a warming trend across our region. Valley areas will be back in the low 80's on Monday, high 80's to low 90's on Tuesday and low to mid 90's on Wednesday. Mountain areas will be back in the high 60's to low 70's on Monday, high 70's to low 80's on Tuesday and low to mid 80's on Wednesday.
