2015 will be off to a frosty, dry start in Merced

If you’re outside when the clock strikes midnight Wednesday, that New Year’s kiss is going to be chilly.

A cold snap moving through the area is expected to peak in the early hours Thursday, forecasters say. But before we get that far, a storm system visiting the Northern San Joaquin Valley is expected to bring scattered showers and some significant winds.

Forecaster Brooke Bingaman said the weak storm is expected to drop some snow on the foothills but only scattered showers in the Valley early Tuesday.

“Some showers will be possible across the interior, with a few inches of snow accumulation possible for the Sierra and a few flurries into the foothills,” the National Weather Service said in an advisory.

When the system clears out, the winds will move in. Foothill and mountain areas are in for heftier gusts.

William Peterson, a forecaster for the National Weather Service in Hanford, said the higher elevations could see gusts up to 75 mph, with even stronger winds possibly hitting Mariposa. In the Modesto and Merced areas, winds are expected to be in the range of 10 to 20 mph, with gusts of up to 25 mph.

Forecasters pointed out that drought-stressed trees may be more susceptible to falling than normal.

The winds will taper off by Wednesday afternoon, Bingaman said. And then it’s going to get cold – well, cold by our standards. A commenter on The Modesto Bee’s Facebook page offered to trade our weather for that in his neighorhood in North Dakota, where it was -13 degrees (we declined).

Lows will drop into the upper 20s, bringing frosty conditions. That’s about 10 degrees less than average, Bingaman said. “We’ve been kind of spoiled,” Bingaman said. “We haven’t had a real frost for such a long time so far this winter.”

Peterson suggested residents take cold-weather precautions: “Wrap the pipes, shelter the pets, cover the trees,” he said.

As for any real rain, no sign of it in the near future.

“We’ll have to see what the rest of January brings,” Bingaman said. “But 2015 is going to start off dry and cold.”

This story was originally published December 29, 2014 at 4:57 PM with the headline "2015 will be off to a frosty, dry start in Merced."