It’s not over yet. More rain on the way to the Central Valley. Here’s what to expect

Central Valley residents can expect a brief reprieve from the week-long downpour on Thursday, according to the National Weather Service.

But the recent spate of storms in the Valley is expected to continue with a new storm system this weekend, and another one next week, NWS Hanford meteorologist Brian Ochs said.

Roads in both from Merced to Fresno County have held up from the rain so far with few closures, officials said. But motorists will continue to contend with valley fog in the coming days, especially on rural roads.

The series of storms that started on Nov. 26 hit Merced County particularly hard, Ochs said. The average rainfall from Oct. 1 through Tuesday in Merced is about 2.07 inches, while rainfall this year during that period was 3.6 inches.

Wednesday morning storms dropped another 0.65 inches in Merced County and 0.3 inches in Fresno County, Ochs said. Residents can expect a smaller rainstorm to hit the Central Valley on Wednesday night, possibly dropping another 0.1 to 0.25 inches in the area.

After that, the area will see clearer skies until another strong storm Friday.

“So far we’ve seen some ponding on roadways and some localized nuisance flooding,” Ochs said, noting no major road closures were observed by the NWS. In Merced, city staff reported Childs Avenue was shut down between G Street and Highway 59 due to flooding.

Mariposa County received similar rainfall totals as Merced County, if not more, Ochs said. However, no major road closures, including on Highway 140, had yet been reported by Mariposa County officials during the wave of storms.

Rainfall in Fresno County has been less extreme, with 1.5 inches reported between Oct. 1 and Tuesday. That’s lower than the area’s 1.82-inch average during that time.

But rainfall numbers will likely catch up with Friday’s storm, expected to last through Sunday, Ochs said. The weekend storm could drop up to 0.75 inches in both counties.

The foothills of Mariposa County could see as much as an additional inch of rain.

That storm is expected to pass after Sunday but another, weaker storm system is scheduled to arrive next Wednesday.

Road advisories

A few highway condition notices were reported by Caltrans on Wednesday.

Due to weather conditions, chains were required on all vehicles that didn’t have four-wheel drive and snow tires on Highway 41 from two miles north of Big Cedar Springs in Madera County to a half-mile south of Yosemite National Park in Mariposa County.

Chains also were required for non-four-wheel drive vehicles without snow tires on Highway 180 between General Grant Grove and Hume Lake Road in Fresno County.

Motorists visiting Huntington Lake also need to carry tire chains. Caltrans is requiring chains on Highway 168 from eight miles east of Shaver Lake to the east end of Huntington Lake.

This story was originally published December 5, 2019 at 6:00 AM.