With the sunshine Nevada County saw over the last week, it’s hard to imagine a return of rain and colder temperatures. However, that is exactly what has happened.
“This is one of the many aspects of the weather,” explained Scott Rowe, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Sacramento. “This time around it was very quick. Last week there was a high pressure system over California, and now we have a low pressure system bringing in those cloudy conditions. We are expecting it to persist for the next few days.”
Not just colder air moved in; with it, the system brought a small amount of rain along with it. The storm tallies are meager, with Grass Valley Airport receiving .05 inches, as of noon on Tuesday. The total represented the previous 12 hours of precipitation.
“(Grass Valley) received anywhere from .01 to .09 through noon so not a lot—that’s the nature of the showers,” Rowe said.
The chillier temperatures are vastly different that what was recorded in the last week. The temperature on April 28 was 82 degrees; on April 29, 83 degrees; and April 30, 82 degrees. The average high for May 2 is 67 degrees.
“Sunday it was 73 but it may have been a carryover high from the night before,” Rowe explained. “Right now it is much cooler than that.”
A warm-up isn’t out of the realm of possibility, Rowe said.
Records for Grass Valley and its surrounding areas aren’t kept by the Weather Service, but looking at Sacramento’s record for lowest high temperature, Rowe determine that that record dates all the way back to 1915 when it only warmed up to 56 degrees. Sacramento’s records date back as far as 1877.
Snow levels remain high, generally ranging from 4,500 to 6,500 feet.
“With this event Grass Valley will stay all rain,” Rowe said. “With the course of this storm we expect snow levels to hover around 4,500 to 6,500 feet—lower in morning hours. I’d estimate 5,000 to 6,000 feet. Expect snow levels to hang around and maybe get higher as we hit Thursday and Friday. I think the opportunity (for snow) will quickly drop, especially after Thursday.”
Chances of rain Wednesday are around 20 percent after 2:00 p.m., with the sun peeking out at times. The chances will increase to 30 percent on Thursday during the day with winds topping five to eight miles per hour.
Staff Writer Jennifer Nobles can be reached at jnobles@theunion.com.
