Wet, cold Bay Area weather settles in until mid-March; Freeze Warning in effect early Wednesday

SAN FRANCISCO -- The storm door ushering one weather system after another through the Bay Area will remain wide open at least until mid-March, forecasters predicted Tuesday.

Forecasters said the pattern will remain much the same as it was in late February -- days of rain and cold temperatures sandwiched in between brief respites of dry weather and clear skies.

"A pattern favoring wet weather remains in place at least through the first half of March," the National Weather Service said. "During this period, the NOAA/Climate Prediction Center precipitation outlook covers our region with a 40-50% chance of having above average rainfall and a 60-80% chance of below average temperatures."

However, the intensity of storms remains to be determined.

"There are currently no details regarding any prolific and widely impactful rainmakers that can be stated with any confidence beyond early next week," the weather service said. "The only thing that is clear is that we're in a wetter than normal pattern."

Showers will come to an end Wednesday morning, but the bone-chilling frigid air will not. 

"Wednesday and Thursday mornings are expected to be the coldest of the week with overnight lows widespread in the 30s with some pockets of upper 20s in the North Bay, East Bay hills, and the high country of Monterey and San Benito counties," NWS forecasters predicted. "Wednesday morning, the Highway 101 corridor in the North Bay - including Petaluma and Santa Rosa - has a 80-85% chance of getting to 32 degrees or lower."

A Freeze Warning has been issued for the above areas from 1 a.m. to 8 a.m. Wednesday morning. There is also a Frost Advisory for a smaller coastal area during the same period. The odds of freezing temperatures go up for Thursday morning.

"Thursday morning, that same area has a 95-100% chance of 32 or below, while San Jose and southern Santa Clara valley has a 60% chance," forecasters said.

At least it will remain dry, that is until Saturday.

"Next chance for precipitation returns on Saturday as another upper low moves out of the Gulf of Alaska down the West Coast," forecasters said. "Amounts on the order of  0.5-1" in the North Bay and Santa Cruz mountains with a few tenths elsewhere."