Storm carries light rain to region

A storm hit the Sierra Nevada on Thursday, bringing heavy mountain snow, rainfall, strong winds and dangerous driving conditions as it moved toward Southern California.

The National Weather Service in Sacramento issued a winter storm warning through midnight Friday for western Plumas County and Lassen National Park and the western slope of the northern Sierra Nevada counties.

Snow reports were not expected until Friday morning, said Cory Mueller, a meteorologist with the bureau.

Meteorologists forecast 10 to 30 inches for the Shasta County and southern Cascades mountains, and 1 to 3 feet in the Sierra Nevada. The heaviest snowfall was expected at higher peaks, said Katrina Hand, a meteorologist with the weather service in Sacramento.

Gusty ridgetop winds were predicted to reach between 45 mph and 65 mph, leading to dangerous and even whiteout conditions, forecasters said.

“We are asking people to reconsider their mountain travel plans,” Hand said.

The storm, which originated in western Canada and the Gulf of Alaska, brought a half-inch to 1 inch of rain to the Sacramento Valley, and a half-inch to 2 inches to foothill areas as of Thursday evening, Mueller said.

Light drizzle fell in Southern California overnight Thursday, and a few isolated showers were expected throughout the day.

Temperatures across the region were about 10 degrees below normal, said Andrew Rorke, a senior meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard.

“The real rain will start after midnight [Friday] and through [Friday] morning as the main cold front moves down through Southern California,” Rorke said.

Meteorologists predict about a quarter of an inch to half an inch of rain, weaker than previous forecasts, Rorke said.

Southern California could use a big storm “to drop a lot of water on us,” Rorke said. “This is not going to be it.”