Expected rain delays lane closures at Kiernan/Highway 99 in Modesto

The lane closures previously scheduled for Monday night for the Kiernan Avenue/Highway 99 interchange reconstruction have been postponed a day because of expected rain.

The outside lanes of the Kiernan bridge over 99 now will be closed in both directions from 9 p.m. Tuesday to 6 a.m. Wednesday. The closures will give space for construction crews to finish work on the bridge’s exterior. All traffic will be shifted to the inside lanes. Electronic and print signs will guide motorists, bicyclists and pedestrians.

On Friday morning, the National Weather Service’s Sacramento office sent out a warning of high winds and heavy rain from a strong storm entering Northern California on Saturday and early Sunday.

For the Modesto area, the weather service said there’s a 70 percent chance of rain Friday night, between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible.

Saturday, the chance of rain climbs to 80 percent during the day. It could be heavy at times, and between a quarter and half inch of rain is expected. The forecast calls for a southeast wind of 11 to 18 mph, with gusts as high as 28 mph.

The prediction for Saturday night is a 90 percent chance of rain, between a half and three-quarters of an inch. Wind gusts that night could reach 31 mph.

There’s an 80 percent chance of rain Sunday, with possible thunderstorms. The chance of rain falls to 50 percent Monday.

In the Sierra Nevada, snow totals could range from 2 to 4 feet at elevations above 8,000 feet. Sierra snow levels will lower to near 4,000 feet by Sunday, forecasters said.

The Sierra snowpack, which normally stores about 30 percent of California’s water supply, was at 83 percent of the March 1 average when measured earlier this week. That’s much better than a year earlier, but after years of drought, nearly all of the state’s major reservoirs hold far less water than average by this time of year, the Department of Water Resources said.

This story was originally published March 4, 2016 at 11:50 AM with the headline "Expected rain delays lane closures at Kiernan/Highway 99 in Modesto."