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By Heather Buchman, Meteorologist
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Extremely rare opportunities for snow will continue for San Francisco and Sacramento into tonight, then even down into some valleys around Los Angeles Saturday.
The last time it snowed in downtown San Francisco was 1976.
As AccuWeather.com Western Expert Ken Clark has been stressing, this storm is a "big deal" for California.
Major disruptions to travel through passes, including all those leading into and out of the L.A. Basin, are expected with this unusually cold storm. The snow will be coming just before the Oscars kick off Sunday.
Travel-snarling snow will not be limited to just California, with parts of Arizona, Nevada and states farther east set to get blasted this weekend as well. Snow could even fall at the Accenture Match Play Championship at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club in Marana, Ariz., this weekend.
More details on how the storm will impact these southwestern states are provided in this news story.
Very Cold Storm to Bring Rare Snow to Low Elevations in California
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A very cold storm now in the Northwest looks still on track to bring California, and other areas, a rare taste of the white stuff other parts of the nation take for granted. This storm could be a once-in-20-or-30-years storm for parts of California for how cold it will be and how low accumulating snow will get. By Friday in the north and late Friday night and Saturday night in the south, it will be almost as cold as it can be. It is rare to see 500 mb temperatures dropping to around 35 below zero C around the Bay Area and 32 below zero C near Los Angeles. 850 mb temperatures will fall to a ridiculous 8 below zero in the north to 4 or 5 below zero in the south. This will be a no-frills update. I will give detailed forecast by region with text only.
Sierra:
Snow developing from north to south Thursday and Thursday night with gusty winds and heavy snow for about a 12-hour time period. Additional snow likely Friday into Saturday into Saturday evening but more showery in nature while still being locally heavy at times. Accumulations above 6,000 feet: 18 to 36 inches with blowing and drifting. Snow levels will drop to the lower foothills from north to south Friday and Friday night, and 6 to 12 inches is likely above 3,000 feet with locally higher amounts; 3-8 inches can fall down to 2,000 feet and a few inches are possible down to 500- to 1,000-foot level. Snow will end Saturday night but it will remain very cold through Sunday with snowcovered and icy roads likely to remain well beyond the ending time of snow.