Forecast update: Modesto area should get a soaking, and its watershed lots of snow

A light to moderate storm Tuesday will be followed by a stronger punch of rain and snow the next two days, the National Weather Service forecast.

It projected a total of 2.5 inches of rain in Modesto through Thursday, which is about a fifth of the average weather year’s total. The storms could bring 6-feet-plus of snow to Sonora Pass, high in the watersheds supplying the Northern San Joaquin Valley, the agency said. Wednesday also looks to be windy.

The first sprinkles Monday put 0.02 inches in the Modesto Irrigation District’s downtown rain gauge as of 5 p.m. That brought the total to 4.54 inches for the weather year that started July 1. The average year gets 12.2 inches, most of it from December to March.

The snowpack in the central Sierra Nevada stood at 85 percent of average as of Monday morning, the California Department of Water Resources reported. It could very well be above-average after the midweek snow, expected to be 60 to 78 inches at Sonora Pass. This is the highest point on Highway 108, which is closed for the winter 7 miles east of Strawberry.

The highway still brings skiers and snowboarders to Dodge Ridge. It reported 36 inches of new snow over the past week, bringing the total to 127 inches. Plenty more is forecast for midweek, and storm-free days on the Martin Luther King holiday weekend.

Wednesday’s southeast wind is forecast at 10 to 20 miles per hour in the Modesto area, with gusts up to 30 mph.

The Modesto Police Department provided rainy-day driving tips in a Facebook post Monday:

• Turn on your headlights.
• Slow down.
• Don’t follow too closely.
• Check your wiper blades.
• Don’t drive on bald tires.
• Don’t drive through standing water.
  
  

This story was originally published January 14, 2019 at 5:19 PM.