California’s earliest snow advisory in nearly 20 years could also bring month’s worth of rain – The Mercury News

By Allison Chinchar and Elliana Hebert | CNN

A low pressure system Moving into the West Coast today will bring rare snow and early season rain to California through Monday.

“A winter weather advisory is in effect for portions of the Sierra Nevada above 8,000 feet where up to 4 inches of snow could fall,” the National Weather Service office in Hanford said.

Visitors to Yosemite National Park may encounter snow while driving through the park. Up to 2 inches of snow is possible from Tuolumne Meadows and Tioga Pass, one of the main thoroughfares in the park.

The last time a similar weather warning was issued in September was a snow advisory from Yosemite to Kings Canyon in 2007.

There have been only five snowfalls in September in Grant Grove, California, which is just west of Kings Canyon National Park and is about 7,000 feet high. The last time this area had snow in September was 1986.

This system will push across the Intermountain West and into the Rockies on Tuesday. Up to an inch of rain is expected across parts of Idaho, Oregon, Nevada and northern California, with isolated amounts of 2 to 4 inches possible through Thursday.

While these amounts may not seem high, this is the drier part of the year so this will equate to a month of rain for cities like Reno, Boise and Redding, California.

The widespread precipitation chances will also bring much cooler temperatures to the region over the next few days. Parts of Oregon, California, Nevada and Idaho will see temperatures 15 to 20 degrees below normal, including Reno, Nevada; Medford, Oregon; as well as Bakersfield, Fresno and Sacramento, California.