Flood Warning | Northern California Weather 6 PM

Good evening, folks! I'm Aaron Jolly. And welcome to the Northern California Weather Podcast for Tuesday, February 24th. If you've been enjoying any kind of dry streak, tonight's the night to say goodbye. A significant storm system is bearing down on our region. And it's bringing the works. We're talking rain, mountain snow. And wind that'll rattle your windows before sunrise. Step outside right now and you'll feel things are deceptively calm. Sacramento's sitting at a mild 54 degrees. Down in San Francisco, you're at 52 with some fog creeping through the Golden Gate. But don't let that fool you. By midnight, the leading edge of this atmospheric river starts pushing onshore. The coast from Mendocino down through Marin is looking at one to two inches of rain by Wednesday afternoon. You'll want to clear those storm drains tonight if you haven't already. Heading inland to the Sacramento Valley, you're seeing half an inch to an inch, with gusty south winds hitting 35 to 45 miles per hour overnight. That's the kind of wind that brings down branches, folks. Now up in the Sierra — this is where it gets serious. Snow levels start around 6,500 feet, then drop to about 5,000 feet by Wednesday evening as colder air wraps in behind the front. Donner Pass could see 12 to 18 inches of fresh snow through Thursday morning. If you're planning any mountain travel, Dress warmly and carry chains. I48 degrees over the summit? Take it slow or honestly, just wait it out. Here's your heads-up for the week ahead. A brief break Thursday gives us a chance to dry out, but another system lines up for Friday into Saturday. Not as strong, but enough to keep things wet. Temperatures stay cool — Sacramento in the low 50s, San Francisco hovering around 48 to 52. One bright spot? Lake Shasta's loving every drop of this. We're finally climbing back toward healthy storage levels after a rough start to the water year. That's your forecast — we'll be back tomorrow with storm totals and a look at that weekend system. , Northern California. Take care!