Roger Gass, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service, said a low-pressure system is bringing in unsettled weather through Thursday.
“We have an upper level trough that’s digging into the Pacific Northwest coast, and that’s what’s bringing the rainfall to the region,” he told SFGATE.
Showers are expected to be relatively light, with San Francisco receiving about 0.25 inch of rain through Thursday. On Tuesday morning, pockets of heavy rain were falling in the South Bay, according to weather service radar. Gass said coastal areas in the North Bay will likely get the most rain, with 0.5 to 0.75 inch expected.
Oakland could also see between 0.25 and 0.5 inch through Thursday.
“It’s going to be scattered here and there. It looks like the best chance is this afternoon and then again tomorrow as another system moves in,” he told SFGATE, referring to the rain showers.
The changing weather pattern should also bring some much needed snow to the Sierra Nevada, where the snowpack is at 30% of normal in the central area of the state. The weather service in Sacramento predicts about 4 to 8 inches of snow could fall over 6,000 feet elevation, with increased snow totals at higher elevations through Wednesday evening.
The weather service in Reno has issued a winter weather advisory for Mono County above 8,000 feet elevation, where 6 to 12 inches of snow could fall through early morning Wednesday.
After this system passes, Gass said hot and warm weather will return to the Bay Area for the weekend, though not the record-breaking heat from earlier in March. And after these showers, there is no sign of wet weather returning in the forecast.
“It’s looking quite dry,” he said.