Light rain briefly interrupts warming trend in Valley

A mild weather system Wednesday morning dropped almost a quarter inch of rain on Modesto, briefly resulting in lower temperatures and slick roads for motorists.

The Modesto Irrigation District measured 0.23 inches of rain downtown, pushing the season total to nearly 11 inches. The 127-year average for Modesto is 12.15 inches of rainfall from July 1 to June 30.

The relatively warm system came from the northwest over the Pacific Ocean and brought light rain for the Northern San Joaquin Valley and Sierra Nevada, said Courtney Obergfell, meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Sacramento.

The system did not draw enough cold air to produce snow, Obergfell said.

The clouds interrupted a warm spell, dropping the afternoon temperature to about 70 degrees after Tuesday’s high of 78. Mostly sunny weather is forecast through Sunday, with daytime highs nearing 80 degrees for the weekend.

According to AccuWeather.com, the next chance of rain for the Modesto area is midway through next week.

As the rain tapered off Wednesday, a Modesto police car went out of control on Scenic Drive, east of Bodem Street, and came to rest against the St. Stanislaus Cemetery wall.

The car, driven by Officer Eric Schuller, was one of the units responding shortly after 11 a.m. to a report of an occupied stolen vehicle spotted in the Yosemite Boulevard and Creekwood Drive area, said Police Department spokeswoman Heather Graves.

No one was injured and the police car sustained moderate damage. There was no major damage to the wall.

Graves said police do not know how fast the unit was traveling, but speed was a factor in the crash.

This story was originally published March 11, 2015 at 5:04 PM with the headline "Light rain briefly interrupts warming trend in Valley."