Cold, Wet Weather Headed Toward Bay Area
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS 5 / BCN) -- Cold, wet weather is expected to return to the San Francisco Bay Area on Friday and last throughout the weekend, forecasters said.
After nearly a week of warm, sunny weather, a cold low pressure system descending from the coast of British Columbia will bring rain throughout the region, as well as snow at higher elevations, strong winds, and possibly thunderstorms, the National Weather Service said in a Weather Alert.
Rain was expected to begin in the northern Bay Area counties on Friday afternoon, and will reach San Francisco and the Peninsula by Friday evening, the NWS said. The Monterey Bay region will also experience some rain on Friday night, forecasters said.
The entire area will continue to receive rain throughout the day on Saturday, the NWS said. Though the rain was predicted to be steady, it was not expected to fall in large amounts, according to the NWS.
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While higher elevations could receive over an inch of rain by Sunday, urban areas could expect less than half an inch of rainfall this weekend, the NWS said. Many of the area's surrounding peaks that exceed 3,000 feet in elevation can expected some snowfall, NWS said.
Forecasters added that there was also a slight chance of thunderstorms this weekend in the impacted areas, which include all or parts of San Francisco, Santa Cruz, San Mateo, Marin, Monterey, Contra Costa, Benito, Sonoma, Santa Clara, and Alameda counties.
Gusty western winds are also predicted to accompany the cold front, the NWS said, with Saturday night winds expected to reach or exceed 30 mph.
The weather service advised anyone who was planning to spend the weekend doing outdoor activities or travel to monitor the latest forecasts and prepare for the possibility of potentially hazardous winter storm weather.
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