Freezing temperatures in Merced expected; snow in the foothills
Freezing temperatures will creep into Merced County on Christmas Day, linger over the holiday weekend, and sink to a low of about 21 degrees on Sunday morning, according to the National Weather Service.
“A hard-freeze warning has been issued for the Valley, so people should take precautions with pets and any sensitive plants,” said Modesto Vasquez, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Hanford. “It’s looking like a pretty cold weekend is coming.”
Christmas morning is expected to open with temperatures around 34 degrees before climbing to around 50 later in the day.
Weekend lows could sink to around 26 degrees early Saturday and 21 degrees on Sunday, Vasquez said.
The light rains that sprinkled on Merced on Christmas Eve are not expected to return.
Some snow, however, is expected in the foothills of Mariposa County, possibly as low as 2,800 feet, Vasquez said.
This cold and wet weather comes as a sharp contrast to last winter.
On Jan. 1, the snowpack was a meager 45 percent of the state’s historical average. By April 1, it was at 5 percent of normal, marking a record low.
The snowpack is important because it contributes about 30 percent of California’s water supply when it melts and rushes through rivers and streams to fill vital reservoirs that help sustain the state during the dry months.
While snowpack in the Sierra Nevada was measured above average for the first time this year, it’s still not enough to make a dent in the state’s four-year drought, the state water manager said this week.
“Nobody’s declaring a victory yet, that’s for sure,” said Doug Carlson, a spokesman for the California Department of Water Resources.
Despite recent rain and snowfall, major reservoirs in Northern California remain critically low. Lake Shasta, California's largest reservoir, is at half of its historical average, and Lake Oroville is 45 percent full.
If the Northern California snowpack is at 150 percent of normal April 1 – when it should be at its deepest – climatologists will feel more confident that drought is easing, Carlson said.
State officials on Dec. 30 plan to trudge through the snow to make the season’s first measurement by hand. By then it should be even deeper.
A cold storm Thursday is expected to dump more than a foot of snow on Tahoe with a dusting in the lower elevation foothills, said Nathan Owen, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Sacramento.
“It’s going to be a good sign going into the new year for the Sierra snowpack,” he said.
The Merced Sun-Star contributed to this report.
This story was originally published December 24, 2015 at 1:34 PM with the headline "Freezing temperatures in Merced expected; snow in the foothills."