Bay Area Rain Storm Fizzles, But Reveals Promising Signs Of Winter Snow For Sierra
SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX 5) -- The front that moved through the Bay Area Wednesday basically 'wimped out.'
With little support from the jet stream (that stayed north) and little tropical moisture pulled into the front (that stayed south), most of the Bay Area received less than a tenth of an inch of rainfall.
This was not going to be a big drought-buster of a weather system, but even with the bar set low, our rain totals were disappointing.
That said, there was a promising sign of winter weather above 8500 feet in the Sierra. It was cold enough today for light snow to fall in the highest elevations of the mountains, providing a visual glimmer of hope that this winter will be snowier than the past several. Of course, no winter in modern history was drier in the Sierra than last winter, when the snowpack was only 3% of normal.
One important note to remember: We are in the midst of a "very strong" El Niño pattern, but past rainy seasons with similar setups have not yielded above-average rainfall until December. Some were drier-than-average until January. Let's hope our patience pays off at some point in time this winter.