Potent Fall Storm Bringing Howling Winds, Steady Rain And Blizzard-Like Conditions
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- After months of drought-like weather, Bay Area residents began bracing Monday for the first major storm front of the fall advancing toward Northern California from the Pacific Northwest.
The jet stream was poised to the slam the strong cold front into California's North Coast and Southern Oregon near Grants Pass on Tuesday with snow accumulations of 6 to 10 inches above 2500 feet and wind gusts as high as 60 mph. At the lower elevations, residents could get 2 to 4 inches of snow down to 1500 feet.
WATCH: CBSN Bay Area – 24/7 Digital News Channel from KPIX 5
The National Weather Service issued a Winter Storm Warning for the region, cautioning travelers taking the busy I-5 corridor northward for the Thanksgiving Holiday weekend to prepare for hazardous driving conditions.
"Travel will be very difficult to impossible," weather forecasters warned. "The hazardous conditions will impact pre-Thanksgiving travel. Gusty winds could bring down tree branches and result in white-out conditions."
After ravaging Southern Oregon, the weather front will roar into the California's North Coast where a Winter Storm Warning has been issued for parts of Del Norte, Humboldt, Trinity and Medocino counties from 10 a.m. Tuesday to 2 p.m. Wednesday.
Thanksgiving week travelers can expect heavy snow in the higher elevations and steady rains at the lower levels. Winds will also whip through the area with gusts in excess of 40 mph.
By late Tuesday, the storm front will continue its southward advance into the Bay Area where it will begin as light showers in the North Bay and increase its intensity into Wednesday.
The National Weather Service said the low pressure system will stall over the Bay Area, allowing rain to linger through Wednesday and into Thursday morning. Flight delays are very likely at San Francisco International for one of its busiest days of the year.
Forecasters predicted that the bulk of the rain, which will be heavy at times, will fall Tuesday night into Wednesday morning with 1/2 inch to an inch of rain expected at the lower levels, with higher elevations seeing up to 1.50 inches and even 2 inches in the Santa Lucia mountains in Monterey County.
Temperatures are also expected to plunge. By Wednesday, snow levels were expected to lower and some early season snow could fall in the higher elevations of the Santa Lucia and Diablo range in the East Bay. Afternoon temperatures will only reach the mid-50s while overnight lows will drop into the mid-to-upper 30s with isolated low lying valleys seeing the upper 20s by Thursday and Friday mornings.
In the Sierra, the storm front was already raking the region on Monday in advance of the annual Thanksgiving exodus of Bay Area residents to the mountains.
Winds were gusting up to 94 mph in the central Sierra ahead of a winter storm that's expected to bring up to 2 feet of snow to the top of the mountains around Lake Tahoe by the middle of the week.
The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm warning for the Tahoe area from 4 p.m. Tuesday to 4 p.m. Thursday.
"The snow will be rather dry and powder-like, with gusty winds combining to produce periods of whiteout conditions especially near the Sierra," forecasters warned travelers who will be taking Highway 50 or I-80 into the mountains.
