If you’re heading into the mountains this weekend, you might want to bring tire chains and warm winter clothing. Snow is on the way for much of the high country in the North State.
The National Weather Service issued winter storm warnings and advisories Thursday for much of the North State, including large portions of Shasta County.
Nathan Rick, a weather service meteorologist, said snow levels will drop down to about 2,000 feet, bringing 4 to 6 inches in the lower elevations. But as much as 20 inches of snow could fall this weekend above 3,000 feet, the weather service said. Most of the snowfall is expected Saturday and Sunday.
No snow is expected in the lower elevations around Redding or in foothill areas below 2,000 feet in elevation, the weather service said.
“It is certainly going to be a more impactful (storm) system than the ones we’ve seen, the past few systems that came through. We’re certainly looking at more snowfall, especially than the systems we saw a couple of weeks ago as well,” Rick said.
More than 8 inches of snow is expected in the Mt. Shasta area, according to the weather service office in Medford, Oregon.
The forecast for Friday calls for mostly sunny skies and highs in the upper 50s. By Saturday, though, showers are expected in the valley and snow with gusty winds up to 40 mph are expected in the mountains, the weather service said.
In this still new year, slightly over half an inch of rain has fallen at the weather service’s official rain gauge at the Redding Regional Airport.
But the Redding area finished 2023 strong as far as rainfall and snow, with about 40 inches of precipitation recorded over the previous 12 months. The normal rainfall total for a calendar year is about 33½ inches, according to weather service statistics.
While the annual rainfall total was about 16% above average, it did not set a record. That distinction goes to 1983, when 78 inches of rainfall was recorded in Redding for that calendar year. Sara Perdue, a weather service meteorologist, said rain was recorded every month that year.
Redding rainfall has exceeded the 40-inch mark a couple times in the past seven years.
About 43 inches of precipitation fell at the Redding airport in 2019. Not all of that was measured in rainfall, though. That was the year of what has become known as the “Snowmageddon,” when 10 to 14 inches of snow got recorded in different areas of Redding on Feb. 12 and 13.
Snow also was a factor in the precipitation picture from 2023, when it snowed five times, a series of cold blasts that even longtime residents could not remember seeing before in the Redding area.
Then in 2016, a little more than 49 inches of precipitation fell in Redding. But you have to go back to 1998 to top that, according to Rick. That year, 61.59 of precipitation was recorded, he said.
The robust rain and snow over the North State also has bolstered lake levels.
As of Wednesday morning, Lake Shasta was at 116% of average for this time of year, according to the California Department of Water Resources. Trinity Lake was 88% of average and 53% full. Both reservoirs are operated by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation for the Central Valley Project.
The California State Water Project’s Lake Oroville was at 129% of average and 68% full, according to the water resources department.
Reporter Damon Arthur welcomes story tips at 530-338-8834, by email at damon.arthur@redding.com and on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @damonarthur_RS. Help local journalism thrive by subscribing today!