Storms prompt weather service to issue flood watch that includes Stanislaus

As a series of strong weather systems moves through Northern California through Tuesday, the National Weather Service has issued a flood watch for areas including Modesto and much of Stanislaus County. The flood watch is in effect until 6 p.m. Sunday.

A precipitation forecast map released by the weather service shows that by Tuesday, Modesto could receive between 0.5 and 2 inches of rain, and Sonora between 2 and 3 inches.

Thursday carries a 20 percent chance of rain in Modesto, with less than 0.1 inches possible. The day will remain mostly cloudy, with a high near 72. Thursday night, the chance of rain increases to 30 percent, with between 0.1 and 0.25 inches possible.

The chance of rain leaps to 90 percent Friday, with between 0.25 and 0.5 inches possible. The high will be near 61 degrees. A southeast wind could reach 18 mph in the afternoon, with gusts as high as 28 mph.

Friday night, the chance of rain decreases to 50 percent.

Saturday’s chance of rain is even lower, at 20 percent. The day will be mostly cloudy, with a high near 66. The chance of rain builds to 40 percent Saturday night and 70 percent Sunday, when the high will be near 62.

A chance of showers continues through Monday night, before the sky clears in the Modesto area for sunny days Tuesday and Wednesday.

The Dodge Ridge skiing and snowboarding resort’s online snow report read Thursday, “Winter is officially back with 46 inches of new snowfall at the summit and 11 inches at the base from the past week.” Citing the weather service, it added, “there's a lot more snowfall on the way for March.” Six of eight chair lifts are in operation.

The weather service says snow levels of 7,000 feet Thursday will fall to 5,000 feet Friday and to 3,000 feet by Monday evening.

This story was originally published March 10, 2016 at 10:49 AM with the headline "Storms prompt weather service to issue flood watch that includes Stanislaus."